The Diamond in the Rough
by MyLadyDunedain
Summary: Annelise, Thorin Oakenshield's adopted human daughter, joins the Company on their quest to reclaim Erebor. Along the way, she learns the secrets of her past and discovers how she came to be under the protection of the King under the Mountain. *eventual Aragorn/OC* *Rating for violence* Slight AU
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, except for the ones I made up. Everything that is from The Hobbit series belongs to JRR Tolkien. I am merely borrowing them for my own amusement. There are a few changes with timeline I made to make the story fit better with the movie, so I suppose this is a slight AU. I'm aware of the flaws in the story when it comes to matching up with books.

* * *

It had been just another day for Arathorn, Chieftain of the Dúnedain. It was rather uneventful and nothing was out of the ordinary. So when Arathorn laid down to sleep that night after telling his wife and son goodnight, he had no idea what was waiting for him in his dreams.

It started off like any other dream he had ever had. He was training a teenage Aragorn and everything was as it should have been. Then, out of the blue, came a young girl with light brown hair carrying twin blades. He was surprised when she came up and hugged him before she began training with the two of them. While she and Aragorn were sparing, Arathorn looked and saw his dear friend Thorondil walking towards him and observing the two adolescents. The young woman suddenly stepped away from Aragorn and ran towards Thorondil with a shout of 'Papa!' before throwing her arms around him. "Hello, my darling Annelise! Now get back to your sparring match and show the lad how it's done," Thorondil said to his daughter with a wink. 'So that is who the girl is', thought Arathorn. After speaking with her father for a moment, he kissed her forehead before she turned back to Aragorn to continue training. As the training was coming to an end, Arathorn heard a light, feminine voice say to him, "This would have been her future with the Dúnedain. She would have known the love of her parents. You would have loved her as your own daughter and she would have felt like she belonged. But that is not the path that has been set before her."

After this was said, Arathorn's surroundings changed, and he was standing in what looked to be a blacksmith's forge. He heard a cry and turned to see a baby wrapped in a blanket, laying on a short work bench. Just as he was moving to look at the child, the door behind the bench opened and a dwarf walked into the forge. The scene changed again and Arathorn saw three dwarves teaching Annelise how to use a sword and bow. Then images began flashing before his eyes quickly. Arathorn caught glimpses of Mithrandir and Annelise, a small hobbit, a company of dwarves, and multiple elves. He saw Lord Elrond and was shocked when he caught a glimpse of a dragon. He saw more figures of men, elves, dwarves, and hobbits. He saw what looked to be the aftermath of battles and the bodies of men and orcs strewn across fields of grass. Suddenly, the scene changed and a much older Aragorn and Annelise were standing back-to-back in front of huge black gates, fighting off legions of orcs as far as he could see. Then he heard the voice again speaking to him, "Her path is not an easy one, and she will have many doubts about herself. But take heart, Arathorn of the Dúnedain, her life will not always be filled with war and death. She will not be alone and she will be loved by all who know her. She is one of the most important women in all of Arda, and she will help to shape the future of this world."

When Arathorn woke the next morning, the dream weighed heavily on his mind. Why was he given this dream? Who was this girl, Annelise? His friend, Thorondil and his wife Evelyn had no children, though they had been married for almost thirty years.

As Arathorn thought more about what the woman in his dream said and the events that he saw, he became worried and scared for the young girl who would experience it all. If what the woman said was true, that this girl would become like a daughter to him, how could he allow those things to happen to her? He could not forget about any of it.

It had been two months since Arathorn had his dream, and still it plagued his thoughts. That day, Thorondil had called a meeting of all the Dúnedain in their camp with some exciting news. His wife Evelyn was finally pregnant with their first child. Although Arathorn was happy for two of his dearest friends, he could not help but feel uneasy because of the child's future. Later that evening, Thorondil came to speak to Arathorn and his wife, Gilraen. He asked them to be his child's godmother and godfather, and to take care of the child if anything happened to himself or Evelyn. They agreed, of course, seeing as how Thorondil and Evelyn had made the same promise to them at the announcement of Gilraen's pregnancy with Aragorn.

Soon after the announcement of Evelyn's pregnancy, Arathorn sent word to Elrond of Rivendell to ask that a pair of twin blades be made for the Daughter of Thorondil as a gift to be given to her by Arathorn when she was old enough. It was decided that Evelyn would give birth to the child in Rivendell, where they would raise her for a time before travelling to Rohan to be with Evelyn's family.

* * *

When Evelyn was five months pregnant, Arathorn II, Chieftain of the Dúnedain, was killed. Thorondil decided that it was time to take Evelyn to Rivendell, and Gilraen decided to go with them, along with her two year old son, Aragorn.

Gilraen's sorrow was great and her friends and the elves of Rivendell had a difficult time keeping her from dying of grief. As it came closer to the time for Evelyn to deliver her child, Gilraen was able to gather her spirits in anticipation for the child. A beautiful little girl was born early in the morning, with the light of the day's first rays blazing on her pale skin. She had big, bright blue eyes just like her mother and dark hair like her father that would shine a dark golden red in the sun.

The baby girl named Annelise, meaning graceful light, quickly became the doll of Rivendell. She and her parents lived in Imladris for two years. In those two years, she had managed to worm her way into the hearts of even the sternest elves. Lord Elrond saw her as another daughter and showered her with love. Gilraen was able to set aside her grief for Arathorn for a time and watch Annelise and Aragorn grow together happily. She knew Arathorn would have adored the sweet child, who always seemed to have a smile on her face and a laugh just waiting to burst from her lips.

After two years in Rivendell, Thorondil received a letter from King Thranduil asking him and his family to visit the Greenwood before travelling to Rohan. It had been years since Thorondil had seen Thranduil and he knew the Elvenking had been grieved by the death of Arathorn, who had been a good friend to him. Evelyn agreed to the visit and preparations were made. On the morning of their departure, Elrond presented Annelise with a gift to remember him and all of Rivendell. It was a beautiful necklace on an unbreakable golden chain. The gold pendant was identical to his daughter, Arwen's, Evenstar but had deep ruby red gems. As Elrond draped the chain around Annelise's neck, he spoke. "Annelise was born with the fiery light of dawn blazing on her face. There is a fire inside of her that has the potential to shape the course of this age. She will be a jewel among Men, a light in the darkness, a diamond in the rough. She will be adored by all who meet her and sorely missed when it comes time for her to move on to other places. She has taken a piece of my heart and I look forward to the day when I will see her again. Travel safely, my dear friends, and may the Light of the Eldar guide your steps."

With those last words, Thorondil mounted his horse and looked his last on the House of Elrond before turning to lead his family to the Greenwood, along with the few guards Elrond sent with them to protect them on their journey.

It took nearly a week for the travelers to reach the home of the Elvenking and his son, Legolas. Once there, they were greeted with open arms and Annelise quickly captured the hearts of both elves. As Annelise was still learning to speak, she had a difficult time saying their names and took to calling them 'Ego and 'Dil. Legolas soon became like an older brother to her, spending his spare time playing games with her or reading stories to help her sleep. Anytime she was in Thranduil's presence, he would absentmindedly pick her up and rub her back. She was often found curled up in the Elvenking's arms, fast asleep.

After spending a year in the Elvenking's castle, the time came for the family to depart for Rohan. The wizard, Gandalf, was in the Greenwood and planned to travel with Thorondil and his family. Thranduil provided six guards to go with them to escort them out of the Greenwood and safely to Edoras. After saying goodbye to Thranduil and Legolas, the company made their way toward Rohan.

The trip was rather uneventful for the most part. After a week of travelling, the group stopped for the night to rest. They were still three days from Edoras. Thorondil woke just past midnight to one of the Elven guards shaking him awake. A company of orcs had been heard not far from their camp by the elf keeping watch. Silently, they packed up camp and saddled their horses in case they needed to leave suddenly. Luckily they had not had a fire going that evening as the air that night was pleasantly warm.

The leader of the guard sent a scout to see how many orcs there were and how far away their camp was. When the scout still was not back an hour later, the company began to get worried. Just when they were about to decide what they should do, one of the guards was shot with an arrow and the company was ambushed by almost fifty orcs. Gandalf quickly made Evelyn mount her horse with Annelise, and told her to get to safety. Thorondil soon shouted at Gandalf to go with her and protect her and the child. With that, Gandalf turned and left Thorondil and the five remaining guards to deal with the orcs. When he finally reached Evelyn, he realized that something was terribly wrong. As he got closer, he saw the arrow protruding from her back and knew that she would not last much longer.

"Gandalf…Mithrandir, please take her," she said to him, holding a crying Annelise out toward him while gasping for breath. "I know I am not long for this world. Take my daughter and give her to her father. Tell… tell him I love him a-and that this was not his f-fault."

Gandalf took the child from her mother's arms and cradled her into his chest, trying to soothe her sobs. He then turned to Evelyn and tried to reassure her. "I will do everything in my power to look after your husband and your daughter. You do not need to worry about them. Now be still, my dear friend. You have done well."

With tears in his eyes, Gandalf watched Evelyn take her last breaths before he reached and closed her eyes, before leaving to find Thorondil.

What the wizard found upon reentering the clearing where they had camped was absolutely horrifying. The orcs had completely mutilated the elven guards' bodies to the point that they were almost unidentifiable. When Gandalf did not see Thorondil among the bodies, he allowed a glimmer of hope to grow in his heart. That hope was soon destroyed when he moved into the ring of trees around the clearing. He found his friend slumped against one of the trees with an arrow straight through his heart and at least ten orcs dead around him. His sword was still clutched in his hand and Gandalf knew he had been killed while engaged with other orcs.

With grief in his heart for the loss of two of his dearest friends, Gandalf turned to look at the three year old girl in his arms. Annelise had fallen asleep while Gandalf had been deep in his thoughts. Gandalf went to the packs that were still on the ground and was able to fashion a sling like he had seen Evelyn do many times to hold the child to him so he could set to work burying his fallen companions, without disturbing Annelise. By noon the next day, Gandalf had buried the eight bodies and made markers, as well as burned the orc corpses. Annelise slept most of the time, which did not concern Gandalf after everything the child had gone through.

He was able to find the group's horses close by and salvage some food before allowing all but his horse to go free. He planned to return to Rivendell to tell Elrond of the events and to decide what to do with Annelise. Just as Gandalf was about to turn his horse toward Rivendell, he heard the Lady Galadriel's voice in his mind. "Wait Mithrandir. The child cannot be taken to Rivendell."

"Where am I to take her then? Mirkwood? Or shall I raise her as my own?"

"I know that she is dear to thee, Mithrandir, as she is to many others. But that is not her path. You must take her to Gondor. In Minas Tirith, there is a young dwarf lord who is well known to you. Thorin Oakenshield is working in a forge in the city as a blacksmith. That is where you must leave the child. She cannot know who she is or how she came to be there. And no one can know that she is alive. Thorin cannot know it was you who brought her to him. That is her destiny."

"With all due respect, my lady, I cannot simply leave her in a blacksmith shop with a dwarf who has no knowledge of who she is or where she came from. And I certainly cannot lie to Lord Elrond and King Thranduil and allow them to grieve for Annelise, when she is perfectly safe," Gandalf replied quickly. 'How can I leave her behind? She will have no idea who she is or how loved she is by so many. I cannot just pretend that she is dead.'

"I know that this decision troubles your heart, Mithrandir. But you will see Annelise again and one day both you and she will understand why things need to be this way," Galadriel said reassuringly.

With great reluctance, Gandalf turned his horse toward Gondor and began his journey toward Minas Tirith, with Annelise tucked close to his heart.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _The bright light of the sunrise shown through the open window of the home in Minas Tirith, right onto the face of the occupant of the only bed in the room. Thorin Oakenshield rose from his bed and began to get ready for another long day in the forge._

 _After eating a quick breakfast, he left the house and headed towards the blacksmith shop he was currently working at. Upon entering the back door into the forge, he got the feeling that something was not right. He looked around the room and everything seemed to be where he left it the day before. Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to get to work on the day's orders. He went over to the small table in the corner where he would sit to eat lunch and moved to set his lunch on top of it. Just as he was about to set his lunch down he noticed a note in the middle of the table._

 _'Please take care of her. She means the world to many who will miss her dearly. Annelise has been left in your care, Thorin Oakenshield,' was all that it said. Then he noticed a basket sitting on his work bench. He leaned down and moved around the blankets on top of the bundle within the basket. He was not entirely surprised after reading the note when he found that a young child was in the basket._

 _Hesitantly, Thorin lifted the small child from her basket and cradled her in his arms. The baby girl quickly turned into his chest, drawn to his warmth, before waking. Thorin was surprised to see eyes as blue as the sky looking back at him. With her dark brown hair and slightly tanned skin, he would have expected them to be brown or green. She could not have been more than two or three years old, but she was very small._

 _'What am I supposed to do with a child? Who left her here and how did they know my name?' Thorin thought to himself._

 _"Uncle! The master says he has two new orders that need to be completed by the end of this week," Fili said, bursting through the wooden door Thorin had just entered minutes ago. His brother, Kili was only a few steps behind him_

 _"What is that?" asked Kili, looking around his brother's shoulder._

 _"It is a young child. She was left in here with nothing but a note," Thorin replied, pointing to the note._

 _Fili and Kili quickly went over and read over the note before turning to Thorin again._

 _"So what are we going to do with her?" Kili asked, curiously. He reached around his uncle toward the little girl and she grabbed onto his finger tightly with her hand._

 _"I suppose we will have to look after her until we find who she belongs to," said Thorin._

 _"Her name is Annelise, I suppose. Do you have any idea who she might belong to, Uncle?" Fili asked._

 _"I have no idea" Thorin replied to his oldest nephew, looking back down at the young girl in his arms who was looking intently at Kili and smiling widely._

 _'Why would someone want to abandon such a small, sweet girl?' Thorin wondered to himself.  
_

* * *

It seemed like only yesterday that Thorin Oakenshield had found the small girl wrapped up in a basket in his workshop. He could not believe that it had nearly been 22 years since that day. Fili and Kili had worked tirelessly trying to find out where she had come from, but no one had any knowledge of her sudden appearance. The dwarves soon realised that no one was going to step forward to claim the child and Thorin soon adopted her as his own daughter.

Fili and Kili enjoyed having the toddler around, as she would laugh at everything they did. She soon became as a sister to them and they were fiercely protective of her. Both loved to hold her as she got ready for her afternoon nap, and would rock her to sleep against their chests before laying her in her bed. Kili was extremely proud that she had the same colour hair as him, and enjoyed teasing his brother about it.

As Annelise grew older, Thorin and his nephews took it upon themselves to teach her to fight and defend herself. Kili enjoyed taking her out into fields near where ever they were and showing her how to use a bow, while Thorin and Fili taught her hand-to-hand combat and sword fighting. She was a surprisingly quick learning and enjoyed every opportunity to learn something new.

Growing up she learned to speak the language of the Dwarves, as well as the tongue of Men. When she turned ten, she began to teach herself the language of the Elves as her father and cousins had no interest in teaching her. She learned to speak fluent Elvish rather quickly and it seemed completely natural for her to speak it.

As she grew older, her desire to train with weapons grew as well. For her thirteenth birthday, Fili and Kili gifted her with an Elvish sword that they bought on one of their many travels. On her sixteenth birthday, Thorin gifted Annelise with a set of twin blades and began teaching her use them, after she had mastered using the long sword.

Although she was never able to beat Thorin at sparing, Annelise could last almost twenty minutes before he was able to find an opening and end the fight. She was able to rival Kili with the bow and she and Fili were evenly matched when it came to sparing and hand-to-hand combat.

Annelise loved her small family very much and could not imagine life without them. Not only did she have a father and two 'brothers', she had many friends among the dwarves that she had met in her life. Although she wished that she and her father did not have to continuously move around and that Fili and Kili would stay around longer, she was fairly happy with the life she had.

There were moments when she would wonder about where she came from and who her parents were, but she did not like to dwell on those thoughts. She had a father who loved her very much and she was content with that.

When she was ten, Thorin told her of the day he found her and showed her the note that was left with her. She always knew that she was different from the dwarves but she did not realise just how big of a difference it was. She did not like that she soon towered over her brothers and her father or that she was not really one of them. Although she had come to accept that, there were still moments when Annelise could not help but be upset about those differences. She knew that she would not live as long as her family and that thought upset her sometimes.

She knew that Thorin and Fili and Kili loved her as if she was really one of them, but as Annelise drew closer to her twenty-fifth year, the thoughts of her past and her parents began to plague her mind once again. She began to notice that not only was she different from the dwarves, she was also different from the Men that she met. She healed quicker and even though she was almost twenty-five, she still looked as if she was eighteen. Even though she was raised by dwarves, she still walked quieter than Men and her senses were slightly sharper.

The pendant that she wore around her neck was a constant reminder that there might be someone somewhere that knew who she really was and who loved her dearly. For who would give such a priceless jewel to someone they despised. It had been around her neck the day Thorin found her with no other clue as to who she was.

The necklace was obviously Elven-made but from where and by whom was a mystery to her Father and cousins. Annelise refused to take it off and would absentmindedly play with the chain whenever she was upset or thinking intently about something.

After Thorin found Annelise, she had nightmares when she slept at night and would murmur things with her little voice. Thorin soon discovered that she was speaking in elvish and realised she must have been raised around elves, though where her family was now he did not know. He never told Annelise of this when she grew up, fearing she would run off to the elves to try to find out where she came from.

Thorin feared that one day she would leave, but he could not bring himself to approach the topic with the young girl who had become a daughter to him. Fili and Kili knew that Annelise sometimes wondered about her parents but they were able to keep that knowledge from ever reaching Thorin. They knew that he feared losing her. They worried as well that one day she might leave, but they were able to subtly change the subject whenever the topic came up.

Annelise had no strong desire yet to leave her family to go find out about her past, but she knew in her heart that one day soon she would find the need for that knowledge to be too great to resist anymore. She could only hope that when that time came, she would be ready for whatever she might uncover.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Author's Note: Just a heads up, I am planning to update this story every day or two depending on my schedule and how quickly I finish writing. I have the first 5 chapters already written and am working on the rest. Anyways thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this story.

* * *

The day Annelise and her cousins received word to meet her father in Hobbiton seemed ages ago. She, Fili, and Kili had been travelling for three weeks from the Blue Mountains to the Shire. Annelise still had no idea why her father would want to meet them in the Shire but Fili and Kili seemed to know the reason, so she did not argue when they told her they were leaving for Hobbiton.

When they reached Hobbiton, Fili and Kili got off their ponies before looking around to see which direction to go. Annelise had chosen to walk instead of borrowing a horse, since she did not have one of her own. Her cousins were kind enough to allow her to ride one of their ponies when they wanted to stretch their legs or when she got tired of walking. Fili and Kili seemed to hesitate before taking a path that led up away from the main square.

"Do either of you know where we are actually supposed to be going?" Annelise said hesitantly, dreading what the answer might be.

"We just need to find a house with a strange marking on the door," Fili replied absentmindedly, looking from door to door as they walked by the small homes in the ground, leading their ponies behind them.

"These homes are so strange. They look like they are built right out of the hills," Annelise observed to herself.

"Minas Tirith was built out of the side of a mountain. And don't forget, we lived inside of a mountain before coming here," Kili said to her, laughing quietly to himself.

"This must be it. And it sounds as though some of the others have made it as well," Fili said, motioning to a Hobbit-hole just to their left. Annelise could see the marking on the door and heard the sound of dwarves talking with another voice she assumed belonged to their host.

She was looking around at the hole so intently, she did not notice that Fili and Kili had tied their ponies next to two other ponies on a fence post and had already knocked on the door and were speaking to a small Hobbit, who seemed rather flustered.

"You must be Mr. Boggins," Annelise heard Kili say to the poor Hobbit.

"Nope! You can't come in. You've come to the wrong house," the hobbit exclaimed impatiently, closing the door on the brothers.

Fili and Kili quickly stepped in the way so he could not close the door. "What has it been cancelled?" Kili said, looking back at the hobbit confused.

"No one told us," Fili said looking at his brother, before looking quickly back at Annelise.

"Canc- No nothing's been cancelled!"

"Well that's a relief," Kili replied to the hobbit before pushing his way through the door and into the house with Fili right behind him.

Fili and Kili then began to give Mr. Boggins their weapons while Kili wipe his shoes on some piece of furniture.

Annelise walked in behind them and shot them a look before Dwalin dragged them off over to where she could see Balin looking through the pantry. She ducked under a chandelier hanging in the entry before turning to the Hobbit.

"You will have to forgive my cousins' manners. They do not know how to behave themselves. My name is Annelise, by the way. It is nice to meet you Mr. Boggins"

"Actually it's Baggins. Bilbo Baggins," he replied rather distractedly while looking at the four dwarves that were currently occupying his dining room. He looked back at Annelise and noticed for the first time that she was not a dwarf.

"I hope you do not mind my asking, but you said those two were your cousins. You aren't a dwarf though."

"It's alright. I've had to answer that question frequently in my lifetime. Their uncle is my adoptive father. He found me when I was three years old," Annelise replied, looking down at Bilbo as he looked frantically at the dwarves before he turned to her in surprise after hearing her answer.

"Oh I'm sorry. I did not know," he said sheepishly, looking up at her.

"It's not your fault. You could not have known. Besides I am perfectly happy with the life I have now."

Just then, there was a noise that sounded like multiple knocks on the door.

"Oh no. No! No! There's nobody home! Go away and bother somebody else!" Bilbo said before opening the door. Soon there were eight dwarves laying piled on top of one another at the Hobbit's feet. Annelise could see a tall figure standing behind them looking through the door.

"Gandalf," Bilbo said to himself, sounding completely annoyed.

"Ah good everyone seems to be here but Thorin," said the wizard.

"Don't worry. He is late, that's all. He travelled North to a meeting with our kin. He will come," Dwalin said to Gandalf while he was walking by.

"I'm sorry, but how do you know my father?" Annelise asked the stranger cautiously.

"I am part of the reason he called this meeting, my dear. Now my name is Gandalf and who might you be, child?"

"My name is Annelise. Thorin is my father."

"You are Annelise. It is wonderful to meet you," Gandalf said mostly to himself a bit distractedly, looking as though there was something he was thinking about intently. Whatever he was thinking about seemed to make him very sad. Annelise felt as if she had seen this man before, but she knew that she hadn't met him before.

* * *

While the dwarves were getting food out of the pantry and Bilbo was going back and forth trying to get control of the entire situation, Annelise was sitting with Ori cleaning the dishes to set them around the table.

"Annelise, would you like a cup of tea?"

"Yes, thank you Dori. That would be wonderful."

Once the table was set, everyone tried to fit around it. Annelise was sitting just outside the dining room watching everyone eat while quietly eating some chicken. This scene was rather familiar to her but she still found it entertaining to sit and watch the dwarves interact with each other.

Bilbo was pacing back and forth in the hallway behind her.

She could understand why the poor Hobbit seemed so upset. From what she could tell, he had had no warning that they were going to be there that night. The dwarves behaviour got on her nerves sometimes but she was used to it. Bilbo had probably never met dwarves and having twelve dwarves just show up and practically take over one's house can be very upsetting.

Annelise knew as soon as Ori asked Bilbo what he should do with his plate, that something was about to happen that would make Bilbo even more upset. And then Fili started throwing the fine plates into the air to Kili. 'Oh no. Here it comes,' Annelise thought to herself.

'Blunt the knifes, bend the forks

Smash the bottles, and burn the corks

Chip the glasses and crack the plates

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates.'

After that, the dwarves began singing louder and throwing around the dishes faster, all while Bilbo looked on in horror. Annelise had seen them do this before and knew there was nothing to worry about, but Bilbo didn't know that.

Soon their song was done and all the dishes were stacked up nicely in front of Gandalf.

While everyone was still laughing, there was a loud knock on the door. Annelise knew that could only mean that her father was there at last.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Gandalf. I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way. Twice," Thorin said as he walked into the Hobbit hole, taking off his coat. "I wouldn't have found it at all if it hadn't been for that mark on the door."

"Mark. There's no mark on that door. It was painted a week ago," Bilbo exclaimed as Gandalf shut the door.

"There is a mark. I put it there myself," Gandalf said to Bilbo. Then he turned and introduced Bilbo to Thorin.

"Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce you to the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."

"You are Annelise's father," Bilbo said a bit stunned.

"Yes I am. Speaking of Annelise, where is she?" Thorin asked looking around the group gathered around them.

"I am right here, Father," Annelise said ducking through a door way behind him.

Thorin hugged her before looking up at her. "How was your journey?"

"We faired rather well. Fili and Kili kept me in good company."

"Very good. Now," Thorin paused, turning back to Bilbo, "this is the hobbit. Tell me, Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting? Axe or sword? What's your weapon of choice?"

"Well I do have skill at conkers, if you must know. But I fail to see why that's relevant," Bilbo replied shortly.

"Thought as much. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar," Thorin said looking around at the company. Everyone laughed at his comment before settling once more into the dining room.

Annelise sat outside the doorway once again, behind her father listening to the dwarves discuss their plans.

"What news from the meeting in Ered Luin?" asked Balin, as Thorin sat and began eating. "Did they all come?"

"Aye. Envoys from all seven kingdoms," replied Thorin with a smile on his face. This information was met with a joyful outburst from all the dwarves, and Annelise smiled to herself at seeing them all so happy.

"And what did the dwarves of the Iron Hills say? Is Dain with us?" Dwalin asked after everyone settled down.

This question caused Thorin to set down his spoon and look at Dwalin sadly. "They will not come," he replied solemnly, looking to Balin. "They say this quest is ours and ours alone." Annelise watched as all the dwarves around the table looked around in disbelief and sadness. She could not help but wonder if they would even be able to succeed without the help of the others.

"You're going on a quest?" Bilbo spoke up from behind Gandalf.

"Bilbo, my dear fellow, let us have a light more light, hmm?" Gandalf said before pulling something out of his robes.

"Far to the East, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak," Gandalf began, unfolding a map as he spoke. The map showed the Lonely Mountain and the lands surrounding it.

"The Lonely Mountain," Bilbo read over Thorin's shoulder. Annelise got up to stand behind her father so she could see the land that her father spoke of often but she had never seen.

"Aye! Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it is time," Gloin said looking around the table.

"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain, as it was foretold," Dori replied. "'When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end.'"

"Uh...what beast?" Bilbo asked uncertainly.

"Now that would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible. Chiefest and greatest calamity of our age," Bofur replied, taking his pipe out of his mouth. "Airborne fire breather. Teeth like razors. Claws like meat hooks. Extremely fond of precious metals."

'Goodness, Bofur. I don't think you scared him enough,' Annelise thought to herself. If his words scared her so much, what could they do to a hobbit that wasn't used to hearing about the terrors of dragons?

"Yes, I know what a dragon is," Bilbo replied curtly, to hide his fear.

"I'm not afraid. I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of Dwarvish iron right up his jacksie," Ori said boldly, standing up from his seat.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us," Balin said, sobering everyone in the room, "and we number just thirteen dwarves. And not thirteen of the best nor brightest."

"'Ere! Who're you calling dim?" Nori protested.

Suddenly Fili hit the table with his hand softly. "We may be few in number but we're fighters. All of us! To the last dwarf!" he said looking around at each dwarf at the table while Annelise smiled at him proudly. 'He will make a great king someday,' she thought to herself.

"And do you forget we have a wizard in our company. Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time," Kili said after his brother.

After that statement, everyone turned to look at Gandalf. "Oh well, no. I-I-I wouldn't say hundreds," he replied nervously.

"How many then?" Dori asked.

"What?"

"How many dragons have you killed?"

Gandalf began coughing on the smoke from his pipe. Annelise decided he was trying to get out of answering the question without causing a stir among the dwarves. It didn't work.

"Go on. Give us a number,' Dori said impatiently, before all the dwarves around the table stood up and started shouting. Annelise shook her head and went back to sit in her chair while they continued to argue.

Suddenly her father stood up and shouted, "No more!" and everyone sat down.

"If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for 60 years. Eyes look east toward the mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor?!" Thorin finished and everyone began cheering. Upon hearing his words, Annelise could not help but feel hope that one day soon she would see the kingdom her father came from.

"You forget: the front gate is sealed," Balin pointed out. "There is no way into the mountain."

"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true," Gandalf said mischievously while messing with something in his hand. Suddenly a key appeared.

"How came you by this?" Thorin asked in quiet astonishment.

"It was given to me by your father. By Thrain. For safe keeping. It is yours now." Gandalf said handing the key to Thorin. A silence fell over the room, as everyone felt the importance of the moment.

Fili soon interrupted the silence. "If there is a key, there must be a door."

"These runes speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls," Gandalf said pointing to the runes on the map with his pipe.

"There's another way in," Kili said excitedly to his brother.

"Well if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed," Gandalf said looking toward the brothers. "The answer to finding it lies somewhere in this map, and I do not have the strength to find it. But there are others in Middle Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth and no small amount of courage," Gandalf said looking directly at Bilbo and then shifting his gaze to Annelise. "But if we are careful and clever, I believe that it can be done."

"That's why we need a burglar," Ori said suddenly, looking at Bilbo.

"Hmm, and a good one too. An expert, I'd imagine," Bilbo said looking over the map, not realising they were talking about him.

"And are you?" Gloin asked leaning forward.

Bilbo turned and looked behind himself at Annelise. She shook her head at him. "Am I what?" he asked when he turned back around.

"He's said he's an expert!" Oin said excitedly.

"Me? No, no, no, no. I'm not a burglar. I've never stolen a thing in my life," Bilbo said backing away from the table.

"Well I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Mr. Baggins," Balin said disappointedly. "He's hardly burglar material."

"Aye, the world's no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves," Dwalin said agreeing with his brother.

Soon all the dwarves began arguing about whether or not Bilbo was burglar material. Annelise was not sure where she stood, but she believed there was something in the hobbit that would benefit them greatly on this journey.

Suddenly the room grew darker as Gandalf stood from his seat. Annelise unconsciously leaned back away from the imposing image that was Gandalf at the moment.

"Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is. Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most, if they choose. And, while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of a hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage." The entire time that Gandalf was speaking Annelise could see Bilbo trying to protest to what the wizard was saying.

"You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company, other than Annelise, and I have chosen Mr. Baggins. There's a lot more to him than appearances suggest. And he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know," Gandalf said looking at each dwarf before finally resting on Bilbo, "including himself."

Bilbo looked at Gandalf shocked for a moment before Gandalf turned to Thorin. "You must trust me on this."

"Very well. We will do it your way," Thorin said to Gandalf before looking to Balin.

"No, no," Bilbo tried protesting but he was all but ignored.

"Give him the contract."

"We're in. We're on," Balin said before handing Bilbo the contract. "It's just the usual. Summary of out of pocket expenses. Time required. Remuneration. Funeral arrangements. So forth."

"Funeral arrangements?" Bilbo asked as Thorin handed him the contract rather roughly. Annelise could tell that her father was getting tired of the hobbit's worrying but she could understand why Bilbo was making such a big deal of it all.

While Bilbo went into the hallway to read the contract, Annelise noticed her father stand and approach Gandalf. "I cannot guarantee his safety."

"Understood."

"Nor will I be responsible for his fate," she heard her father say.

"Agreed," Gandalf said with a moment of hesitation. Annelise could see that the wizard cared greatly for the small creature and decided then and there that she would be there to help the hobbit if her father or Gandalf would not.

* * *

Bilbo was standing in the hall near Annelise reading the contract that Balin had handed him. "'Terms: Cash on delivery, up to but not exceeding 1/14th of total profit, if any.' Seems fair. 'Present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof, including, but not limited to, lacerations…,' read Bilbo, this last lime causing Gandalf to look over at him, alarmed. "'…evisceration, incineration?'" Bilbo read this last part and looked over to the dwarves sitting at the table with disbelief and alarm.

"Oh, aye. He'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye," Bofur said to Bilbo, quickly.

At these words, Bilbo looked down at the ground and Annelise could see that he had gone a bit pale. 'The poor hobbit is going to faint if Bofur goes on,' she thought to herself, shooting a disapproving glance toward Bofur.

"Are you alright, Bilbo?" Annelise asked quietly.

"Yeah," he replied, while bending over and taking a few deep breathes. "Feel a bit faint." At this, Annelise sent another glare at Bofur for upsetting their host.

Bofur, of course, decided to ignore Annelise's glares and continued. "Think furnace with wings."

"Air. I-I-I need air," Bilbo said after hearing this.

"Flash of light, searing pain, then Poof! you're nothing more than a pile of ash."

"Bofur!" Annelise whispered loudly, while keeping an eye on Bilbo. The room seemed to go quiet as everyone watched to see how the hobbit would react. For a moment, Annelise thought that he might be fine, but suddenly he took a deep breath and looked toward her, and with a quick 'Nope', he fell to the ground.

"Oh very helpful, Bofur," Gandalf said sarcastically, while he and Annelise stood to help Bilbo to a chair.

"I'll go and make him some tea to calm his nerves," Annelise said under her breathe to Gandalf.

"A very wise idea, my dear,'' he replied simply, once they got him settled in a chair near his fireplace.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Once the tea was finished, Annelise quickly took it to Bilbo to help him calm down.

"Thank you very much, Annelise,'' he said as she handed the cup to him.

"Are sure that you're alright, Mr. Baggins?'' she asked when she saw that he was still a bit pale.

"I'll be all right. Just let me sit quietly for a moment.'' At this Annelise moved to the fireplace to look at the pictures hanging above the mantle. She assumed that the two hobbits' portraits that were hanging there were of Bilbo's parents.

"You've been sitting quietly for far too long,'' Annelise heard Gandalf exclaim to Bilbo. "Tell me, when did doilies and your mother's dishes become so important to you?'' he asked disbelievingly. "I remember a young Hobbit who was always running off in search of elves in the woods. Who would stay out late, come home after dark trailing mud and twigs and fireflies. A young hobbit who would have liked nothing better than to find out what was beyond the borders of the Shire. The world is not in your books and maps. It's out there,'' Gandalf concluded, nodding his head toward the round window on the other side of the room.

"I can't just go running off into the blue,'' Bilbo countered angrily. "I am a Baggins…of Bag End.''

"You are also a Took.'' This statement caused Bilbo to sign exasperatedly and made Annelise nearly chuckle at the look on his face. "Did you know that your great-great-great-great uncle Bullroarer Took was so large, he could ride a real horse?''

"Yes,'' Bilbo said quietly.

"Well, he could! In the Battle of Greenfields, he charged the goblin ranks. He swung his club so hard, it knocked the Goblin King's head clean off, and it sailed 100 yards through the air and went down a rabbit hole.'' At this, Annelise could not help but chuckle a little under her breathe. Gandalf caught her eye, and with a mischievous smile, continued on. "And thus the battle was won. And the game of golf invented at the same time.''

This last sentenced caused Annelise to laugh out loud, and both Bilbo and Gandalf looked over to her and chuckled with her. "I do believe you made that up,'' Bilbo said to Gandalf once Annelise was done laughing.

"Well, all good stories deserve embellishment,'' Gandalf replied while sitting in the chair across from Bilbo, next to where Annelise was standing. "You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back.''

Bilbo chuckled to himself before looking up at Gandalf again. "Can you promise that I will come back?''

"No. And if you do, you will not be the same,'' Gandalf replied seriously while leaning forward toward Bilbo.

"That's what I thought. Sorry, Gandalf. I can't sign this,'' he said, standing from his chair, before turning to look at Annelise. "I am sorry, Annelise. I wish I could help you but you've got the wrong Hobbit.''

With this, Bilbo proceeded to walk from the room, leaving Gandalf and Annelise alone.

Annelise turned to look at the wizard sitting near her. "You were expecting him to say no, weren't you?''

"I suspected he would at first, but I would not give up hope yet. We may yet have a Hobbit to join us on this quest.''

"I do not know why, but I feel that you are right. Bilbo Baggins will not be able to fight his destiny for very long,'' Annelise said, before looking into the fire one last time before going to find her father.

* * *

Gandalf watched the young woman walk away, and his thoughts, for the first time in a long time, returned to that day when he had to leave a young child alone in the middle of a blacksmith's forge so that she would be able to fulfill her destiny.

Seeing the woman she had grown to be eased some of the pain that had filled Gandalf's heart since the day he left her. After leaving her in Minas Tirith, he traveled to Rohan and the Greenwood to finish the task that was given to him by the Lady Galadriel. Gandalf first traveled to Rohan, where he knew Thengel, the new king of Rohan, would be awaiting the arrival of his sister, Evelyn, and her family. With the news of his sister and her husband's passing and that of the niece he had never had the opportunity to meet, a day of mourning was declared. Gandalf stayed in Edoras for a few days, counseling with the king before continuing on to the Greenwood.

Upon hearing the news of the deaths of Thorondil and Evelyn and the supposed death of Annelise, the hearts of the Elvenking and his son were broken. Gandalf could not allow himself to stay and watch them grieve over Annelise when he knew her to be alive and so continued on to Rivendell to deliver the news to Lord Elrond and Gilraen.

That time Gandalf spent in Rivendell was the hardest of his life. He had to watch as Gilraen eventually succumbed to the grief caused by the death of her husband and her dearest friends and watch the young Aragorn, called Estel in Rivendell, grieve for the loss of both of his parents at the age of 5, all the while knowing that the child Annelise was alive and that he could not see her again for a very long time.

Seeing Annelise now, after 22 years and seeming so happy with her family brought him great joy. He knew that someday soon she would learn of her last and his involvement in it and he could only hope that she would forgive him for his deception at the moment.

* * *

Upon walking out of the sitting room, Annelise saw her father speaking with Balin.

"It appears we have lost our burglar,'' Baling was saying. "Probably for the best. The odds were always against us. After all, what are we? Merchants, miners, tinkers, toy makers. Hardly the stuff of legend."

At this, Annelise walked over to stand by her father and said, "There are a few warriors amongst us," smiling down at her father and Balin.

"Old warriors," Balin replied shaking his head.

"I would take each and every one of the dwarves over an army from the Iron Hills. For when I called upon them, they answered. Loyalty, honor, a willing heart. I can ask no more than that," Thorin replied softly, looking at his old friend.

"You don't have to do this," Balin said, getting up from where he was sitting to stand closer to Thorin and Annelise. "You have a choice. You've done honorably by our people. You have built a new life for us in the Blue Mountains. A life of peace and plenty. A life that is worth more than all the gold in Erebor."

"From my grandfather to my father, _this_ has come to me," Thorin replied, holding up the key that Gandalf gave to him. "They dreamt of the day when the Dwarves of Erebor would reclaim their homeland. There is no choice, Balin. Not for me."

"Nor for me," Annelise said, stepping up closer to her father. "I was raised on the stories of that mountain and I have listened for years to my father's dream of going back there. Now is the time for us to go back and I will stop at nothing until my father has his home back," she concluded, looking down at her father to see him smiling proudly back up at her.

"You may not have been born there, but you are as much a child of Erebor as I am. I have loved you since the day you came to me, and reclaiming our home with you, my daughter, by my side will be more than I could have ever wished for."

Balin watched this exchange with tears in his eyes. The day that Thorin found Annelise had been a new beginning for the remaining dwarves of Erebor. Thorin was a happier dwarf from that day on and it showed in his leadership of their people. Annelise's presence among the dwarves was a blessing in itself. She could not have been more loved, even if she was Thorin's flesh and blood. Her laughter and smiles brought hope to the scattered people and renewed their faith that one day they would be able to go home to Erebor. She had become as a daughter to Balin and to many of the older dwarves, and he was very proud as he watched her with her father.

"Then we are with you, both of you," Baling said, looking between the father and daughter before him. "We will see it done." With this he put a hand on both of their arms before walking into the sitting room, where the rest of the company had gathered.

Before Annelise could follow him, Thorin put a hand on her arm to make her face him again. "I am so proud of you, my darling daughter," he said with misty eyes.

"I love you, Father," Annelise said, pressing a kiss to her father's forehead and smiling at him, before following Balin into the sitting room.

* * *

Upon entering the room, Annelise noticed that Balin was sitting in the chair that Gandalf had occupied and went to sit in Bilbo's empty chair across from him. Her father pulled out his pipe and went to stand in front of the fireplace, gazing into the flames. He then began to hum a song that was very familiar to Annelise. She remembered him teaching her the song and listening to stories about his life in the Lonely Mountain. She had always loved listening to him sing, and this song had always been her favorite.

 _Far over the Misty Mountains cold_

 _To dungeons deep and caverns old,_

 _We must away ere break of day_

 _To find our long forgotten gold._

 _The pines were roaring on the height._

 _The winds were moaning in the night._

 _The fire was red, it flaming spread._

 _The trees like torches, blazed with light._

Soon after the dwarves finished singing their song, Gandalf announced that the company would be leaving at the first sign of light and that it would best for them all to turn in for the night.

Annelise helped Bilbo to find places for everyone to sleep and soon everyone was sound asleep. She lay on the floor in the room her father was sleeping in because the poor Hobbit had no beds for someone her size. After a while of laying staring at the ceiling because she couldn't sleep, she decided to go and clean the dining room, kitchen, and pantry so Bilbo would not have to in the morning.

After an hour, everything was clean and back in its rightful place. On her way back to her bedroom, she saw Gandalf sitting by the fire, smoking his pipe. Again she was struck with the feeling that she had met this old wizard before. Just as she was about to dismiss the thought, she heard Gandalf quietly call her name.

"What is it, little one?" he asked, once she was looking at him. "You looked as though you might have a question."

For a moment, Annelise forgot what she was thinking because she was so surprised at being called 'little one.' All her life, she had been taller than everyone other than the few men she had crossed paths with on her travels with her father and cousins. She suddenly realized that Gandalf was waiting for her answer so she quickly tried to form a reply.

"It's just that I- well you look very familiar and I was just wondering if it was possible that we had met somewhere before."

Gandalf stared at her for a long time and Annelise began to wonder if he was going to answer her at all. She noticed that as soon as she had finished speaking, his face seemed to darken and his eyes looked as though they were not really seeing her, but a distant memory that seemed to cause him great pain.

At length, Gandalf seemed to return to the present moment and looked into Annelise's eyes intently before replying. "We met many times before you came to live with Thorin Oakenshield. I know that gives you more questions, but the time is not right for you to discover the truth of your past. Although that time is approaching, it is not now."

It took Annelise quite some time to process everything that the wizard had told her. Sitting before her was a man that had all the answers to her questions about where she had come from, yet he would not tell her. At first she was very angry, but as she thought about it more, she realized that Gandalf knew more than she did and that he was probably doing what was best.

"Can you promise me that the time will be soon, not another 22 years?" she asked finally, staring into the old, tired eyes of the wizard sitting down in front of her.

"On this journey, you will most likely encounter many people from your past. At that time, the true story of your past will be revealed to you. I must caution you on one point though, dear Annelise. You are your father's most prized possession. Although it is necessary that you learn who you are, it will be very difficult for him. I would advise you not to tell him what we have spoken of this night. He already has a lot on his mind, without having to worry about you finding out about your past."

"I understand, Gandalf. Thank you for telling me what little you can at this time. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, my dear child."

With that, Annelise went back to the room she was sharing with her father and was finally able to fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Annelise awoke the next morning to the feeling of someone brushing her hair out of her face and heard someone saying her name.

"Annelise, Uncle says it's time to leave."

As she sat up, Annelise looked at her surroundings and found Kili crouched down besides her head. She looked out the only window in the room and saw that the sky had just began to lighten.

"Alright. Just give me a minute to collect my things and I'll meet you outside," she said to her cousin. He stood and reached a hand out to her to pull her up from the floor.

"Gandalf brought you a horse, by the way. So you don't have to walk like you did on the way here," Kili said over his shoulder as he walked out, before shutting the door behind him.

Annelise was quick to pack up her blankets and put everything into the small bag she carried on her back. She dressed in her travel clothes, which consisted of a pair of light brown leggings with a forest green tunic that came down to the middle of her thighs with a dark brown leather jerkin over it. She pulled on a pair of light weight but sturdy boots, which had been a gift to her from Thorin on her last birthday, before turning to her weapons.

First she checked all of her arrows and her bow before putting her twin blades in two sheathes that were attached to her quiver. After she strapped her quiver onto her back, she grabbed her belt that held her long sword and buckled it around her waist.

She quickly pulled her long dark brown hair back into a braid to keep it from falling into her face before wrapping her favourite scarf around her neck that she could use as a hood if she needed to.

Once she was ready, Annelise went to join the others. She saw her father standing over with Gandalf, speaking quietly with the wizard. He looked over in her direction and she smiled at him before Gandalf noticed her and waved her over. Standing next to Gandalf were two horses. The first was a beautiful, strong red while the other had a frosty white coat that seemed to glow in the moonlight.

"Ah, good morning Annelise. I hope you do not mind, but I took the liberty of acquiring a horse for you for the journey ahead," the kind wizard said, looking down at her as he handed the reins belonging to the white horse to her.

"Of course not, Gandalf. It is very kind of you," she replied, smiling gratefully to him.

The wizard's smile seemed to grow at her words and he let out a small chuckle. "Oh think nothing of it, dear one. Now this beauty is called Silme. Her name means Starlight in Quenya, one of the languages of the Elves."

"She is beautiful, Gandalf. How can I ever repay you?"

"There is no need, my dear. Seeing you happy is payment enough," he replied, smiling softly down at her and resting a hand on the side of her head, before turning and walking amongst the rest of the dwarves, making sure all were ready to depart.

"She really is a beautiful creature. I am glad that you like her. I feel better knowing you will have a horse to ride, instead of being forced to walk," Thorin said to Annelise reaching out to the horse. Silme tentatively sniffed at his hand before placing her nose into the palm of his hand so he could pet her. Annelise stroked the side of her neck while looking at her father's face and could see that he was worried about the path ahead and where it might bring them.

"We will get your home back, Father. You do not need to worry so."

"It is not the mountain that worries me. I simply fear that something will happen and I will lose you. I have a strange feeling that things are about to change. For good or ill, I cannot tell."

Normally Annelise would be worried about hearing her father talk like this, but after what she learned from Gandalf last night, she knew that her father was right in some respects. Things were about to change and she might be changed because of it. She decided to make a promise to herself then, that no matter what she learned about her past, she would not let it affect her relationship with her father.

"I cannot promise that nothing will happen Father, but I can promise that I will do everything in my power to stay with you. I will never leave you," Annelise said looking deep into her father's eyes before pressing a kiss to the top of his head. She then turned around and began preparing herself and Silme for the road ahead.

* * *

By the time the Company was ready to set out, the sun had already started coming up over the horizon. Annelise was mesmerised by the way it illuminated the land of the Hobbits, reflecting brightly off the rivers and ponds, making them look like liquid gold. Sunrise was always Annelise's favourite time of day and she tried always to be up early enough to watch it no matter where she was.

Gandalf was not surprised to see the contented smile on Annelise's face as she looked around at her surroundings. As a child of two and three, she had always seemed to love looking at the world around her as it was bathed in the light of a new day. Looking at her now, he could see that her dark hair was shining in the rays of the day's first light. The dark brown was showing hints of deep red and gold under the light, just as he remembered her father, Thorondil's, had in the sunlight. The gold, he knew, came from her mother. Evelyn's features had been those typical of a Rohirric woman. Her hair had been golden and she had the same bright blue eyes that looked back at him every time he looked into Annelise's eyes. And although her husband and daughter's skin was the same light color common amongst the Dunedain, Evelyn's had been tan from her time spent outdoors on the plains near Edoras, where she grew up while her father was king.

From what he had heard from the stories Thorin had told him, Annelise had grown to be just as courageous and strong as her father had been. But he could see from the time he had spent with her that she also had her mother's caring heart and joyful soul.

As the wizard contemplated the similarities he saw the young twenty-five year old girl had with her parents, he could not help but feel sad for the loss of his friends and the childhood he had missed because he gave Annelise up. In the time he had spent with her and her parents, his favourite memories were of her laughter and smiles as he showed her little tricks with his magic.

He smiled to himself as he remembered the first time he had met Annelise.

 _Annelise had just turned one a few weeks prior to his visit to Rivendell. He had not met the child yet but had heard much about her in his letters with Lord Elrond following the death of Arathorn and Annelise's birth a few months later._

 _After meeting with Lord Elrond upon his arrival, Gandalf had decided to take a walk through one of the many gardens in the valley to ponder some of the things he had discussed with the elf. He was lost in his thoughts until he turned around a bend in the path and heard the sound of laughter echoing through the garden._

 _He looked up and saw the Lady Gilraen and her son, Aragorn, who was three at the time, walking with the Lady Evelyn. Gandalf saw that Evelyn was holding a small child on her hip and he could only assume that this was the child Annelise that Lord Elrond had told him of._

 _"Good afternoon, ladies," the wizard greeted with a smile, before adding, "and to you, young man," with a pointed look toward Aragorn, who he knew was now called Estel._

 _"It is wonderful to see you again, Mithrandir," Gilraen said, walking up to hug him._

 _"It has been quite some time since we have had the pleasure of your company," Evelyn added, setting the young girl in her arms on her feet so she too could hug the wizard._

 _"Indeed. It has been far too long. Many things have changed since last we met," replied Gandalf with a sad look in his eyes as he looked toward Lady Gilraen. "I am terribly sorry for your loss, my lady. Your husband was a great man and the world now seems a much darker place without him. But take heart, my dear, for your son shall grow to be just like him." With these last words, Gandalf looked down at the young Estel to find that he had led Annelise over to look at some roses near the path, away from their mothers._

 _He smiled when he noticed how close of an eye the young boy was keeping on the baby. Even at three years old, Aragorn was starting to show how much he cared for those around him. The wizard watched as the young boy's eyes followed every movement his charge made, calculating her next steps so that he could step in if she began to fall or needed his help._

 _With a quick smile to the two ladies standing with him, Gandalf moved over to the two children as they looked at the roses. Estel looked up at the old man as he approached and smiled at him before returning his eyes to the little girl next to him._

 _"Hello, Estel. My name is Mithrandir. I am a friend of your father," the wizard said softly._

 _"Hello Mithrandir. It is nice to meet you," the young boy replied softly, holding his hand out for the old man to shake._

 _"It is very nice to meet you too, young man. Now who is your young friend?" the wizard said kindly with a soft smile, while looking at Annelise._

 _"This is Annelise. She is only one. She just started walking. She falls a lot and it is my job to protect her because I am three," the young boy said smiling proudly, standing taller as he spoke of his job._

 _"And I'm sure you do a marvellous job of it too, young man," Gandalf said before bending down to the little girl. "I have something to show you, little Annelise."_

 _At this, the small girl smiled brightly and giggled a little with excitement. Gandalf smiled back before holding his hand out toward the little girl. Estel drew closer, curious as to what the old man had in his hand. As Gandalf opened his hand, a small flame began to shine in his palm. Annelise then began to clap as a rose began to form from the flames. Estel was captivated by the display and was even more surprised when the wizard blew on the flames and they became crystallised. He handed the trinket to the little girl and she stared at it, transfixed by its beauty. Laughing loudly, the small girl hugged the wizard in thanks for her gift and ran to show her mother the crystal rose that was surrounded by flames._

Gandalf was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of someone yelling.

He turned and there was Bilbo Baggins running toward them yelling "Wait!" with the contract flapping wildly behind him.

Annelise was pleasantly surprised to see the Hobbit as she was very upset that morning when they set out and she saw that he was not amongst their Company.

Everyone drew their ponies and horses to a stop before Bilbo stopped in front of Balin and, holding up the contract, said, "I signed it." He then proceeded to hand it to the dwarf.

Balin looked down at Bilbo before pulling out his reading glass and turning to exam the contract. "Everything seems to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield," he said before chuckling lightly with others in the company.

This laughter was soon ended by Thorin's commanding voice. "Give him a pony."

The smile was quickly wiped of Bilbo's face as he began to protest. "No, no, no, really that won't be necessary. Thank you. I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I-I've done my share of walking holidays, you know? Even got as far as Frogmorten once-" Bilbo was quickly interrupted by two of the Company grabbing him by the shoulders before lifting him up onto one of the spare ponies ahead of Annelise and her cousins.

Annelise looked ahead to see the poor hobbit looking very uncomfortable and uncertain atop his new pony and she couldn't help but chuckle lightly under her breath. Next to her, both of her cousins heard and turned to see what had made her laugh, before joining in at the sight of the Hobbit.

* * *

Annelise was talking to her cousins when she heard Oin shout, "Come on, Nori! Pay up!"

Soon bags of money were being tossed around and Annelise could only guess that the dwarves had taken wagers on whether or not Bilbo would come.

She looked ahead to Bilbo, and smiled when she saw Bombur throw a small coin bag to Gandalf, who was riding in front of them next to the hobbit. The wizard caught it before turning to the Hobbit and saying, "My dear fellow, I never doubted you for a second."

Bilbo proceeded to nod for a moment, before sneezing loudly.

"Ah, it's horse hair" he said, reaching into one of his pockets. "Having a reaction. Ah," he continued and Annelise watched as he began to search more quickly through his pockets. She suspected he was looking for a handkerchief.

"No, wait, wait, stop!" she heard the Hobbit yell loudly to the rest of the Company. "Stop! We have to turn around!" The rest of the Company proceeded to stop their ponies and turned to look at the Hobbit.

"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asked impatiently.

"I forgot my handkerchief," Bilbo replied. Annelise couldn't help but look to Kili with worry in her eyes. If the poor Hobbit couldn't live without a handkerchief, how was he going to last in this quest?

"Here!" Bofur said, before tearing a piece of his tunic off. "Use this," he finished, before throwing the piece of cloth to Bilbo.

The hobbit caught it before looking at it hesitantly, while the rest of the Company laughed.

"Move on!" Annelise heard her father yell from the front of their group.

Everyone began moving forward while Bilbo stayed still messing with the cloth.

Annelise let her cousins ride ahead of her, while she pulled up next to the Hobbit.

"I fear you are going to have to get used to doing without some things on this journey," she said looking down kindly at the Hobbit. "But," she said, grabbing the cloth out of Bilbo's hand and giving him a clean handkerchief from one of her saddle bags, "you may use my extra handkerchief, instead of this dirty old thing."

With that she stuffed the cloth from Bombur into her bag where her rags were that she used to clean her weapons.

"Thank you very much, Annelise," Bilbo said quietly as he looked down at the white handkerchief in his hand.

"You're welcome, Bilbo. I know going on this quest is not something you are used to but I can promise you it will be an experience you will never forget," she said smiling down at him from atop Silme.

At these last words, the Hobbit finally looked up at her and Annelise saw a small smile form on his face. "I'm sure you're right. And it can't be easy for you going on a long journey with only men for company."

Annelise laughed out loud at this statement and Bilbo blushed, afraid he might have insulted the only person in the group whose company he didn't mind. "I have grown used to it. Back home the only woman I really know is my father's sister, Dis. She is Fili and Kili's mother."

"You seem very close with your cousins. The dark haired one the most."

"That's Kili. He and Fili have always been closer to brothers than cousins to me. Father told me the first thing I did when I saw Kili was smile at him and reach out my hand to grab his finger. He and Fili helped my father teach me everything I know about fighting and have always been my protectors. They were there the day my father found me."

"Found you?"

"Yes. My father and cousins were living in Gondor, in the capital city of Minas Tirith, at the time. I was found in a basket when I was three years old in his forge with nothing but a note with my name telling him to take care of me and this necklace," she said, pulling the chain of her necklace out from beneath her shirt.

Bilbo studied the necklace for a moment before saying, "It is very beautiful. It looks to be of Elvish make though, not something from Gondor."

"Yes, I have always thought that. It is strange though, to think of someone abandoning a child with such a priceless piece of jewelry."

"It is but whoever left you there must have had a reason."

"That's true. And I wouldn't trade my family for anything in the world."

"Do you think one day you will try to find out how you came to be there?"

Annelise looked ahead of her toward Gandalf. He was riding so close, she was sure that he had heard most of their conversation. "I have a feeling that the answers are a lot closer than I thought they were."

Bilbo saw the way she was looking at Gandalf and got the feeling that the wizard might know something about her past. He decided that maybe he should leave the subject alone for now until Annelise wanted to talk about it more.

They rode in silence together for a few minutes before Bilbo sneezed again loudly. He patted his nose with the handkerchief Annelise had given him, thanking her again for giving it to him.

As he thanked her, Gandalf pulled back to ride on the other side of the Hobbit. He looked over Bilbo's head at Annelise and she could tell from the look in his eyes that he had heard everything she and Bilbo had said. He smiled sadly at the young girl before saying to the Hobbit, "You will have to manage without pocket handkerchiefs and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins, before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire. But home is now behind you. The world is ahead."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Later that day as the sun was beginning to set, Thorin and Gandalf declared that the spot they had reached would be their camp for the night. Everyone dismounted and began getting things ready for the night.

Annelise had spent the day riding next to Bilbo, asking him questions about the Shire and in turn answering questions he had about her life amongst the dwarves. As the day drew on, Annelise grew more and more attached to the strange creature that was accompanying them on their adventure.

Annelise showed Bilbo how to lay out his bed roll before going to help with preparing dinner.

Soon after the sun was finally down, everyone was slowly getting ready to sleep. Annelise could hear someone snoring already and heard someone moving next to her. She turned and saw Bilbo getting up from his bedroll. She looked around the rest of the camp and saw Gandalf smoking his pipe while keeping watch.

Annelise decided to lay back down to try to sleep after checking on Bilbo and seeing him standing next to his pony, Myrtle.

Just as she laid her head down, a screech echoed through night in the distance.

She quickly sat up and noticed that Kili had stood up and begun to move closer to her with Fili right behind him.

"What was that?" Bilbo said frantically, walking quietly to where Fili and Kili stood near Annelise.

"Orcs," Kili replied ominously.

"Orcs?" Bilbo asked.

Annelise looked over to her father and saw him awaken suddenly at the sound of the hobbit's voice.

"Throatcutters," Fili added. "There'll be dozens of them out there. The Lone Lands are crawling with them."

Annelise could tell he was teasing Bilbo and reached up and smacked him on the back of the leg. Fili seemed to get the hint but Kili continued on.

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood."

Annelise looked up to glare at her cousin. 'How could they be joking about something like that?' she thought to herself.

Bilbo turned to look out toward where the noises were coming from and Annelise saw Kili turned to Fili and chuckle.

She shook her head and was about to scold him when she heard her father speak.

"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili said looking down, properly humbled by his uncle.

"No you didn't. You know nothing of the world."

With this, Annelise watched as her father went to stand on the edge of the cliff they had set up camp on, and stare across the land below.

"Don't mind him, Laddie," Balin said walking up to the group. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs."

At this, Fili and Kili looked at Annelise before looking to their uncle, confused by the older dwarf's words.

"After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs, led by the most vile of all their race. Azog the Defiler."

At this name, Annelise shuddered. She had heard that name spoken many times. When she would travel with her father, sometimes he would wake in the middle of the night from nightmares. Nearly every time, she would here him say the word Azog but she never knew what it meant. She couldn't believe that her father had never told her the story Balin was telling now.

"The giant Gundabad orc had sworn to wipe out the Line of Durin. He began... by beheading the King," Balin continued sadly. At this, Annelise realised why her father had never told her the story. Anytime she would try to talk about what happened to his father and grandfather he would shut down and either change the subject or walk away. To know that it was something this horrid, she could understand why he never told her of it.

"Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing. Taken prisoner or killed, we did not know."

Annelise looked toward her father, who had his back turned to the camp. She could tell by his rigid posture that he could hear Balin recounting the story of what happened that day. As she stared at her father, her eyes began to flood with tears for everything he had gone through.

"We were leaderless," Balin continued sombrely. "Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him," he said, with a proud smile suddenly showing on his face before he turned to look at Thorin. Annelise couldn't help but smile proudly at her father's back as well. After everything he had gone through, he was still able to be strong and lead his people.

"A young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc." At this, Annelise looked to Balin astonished and he simply smiled and nodded at her to confirm what he had just said. "He stood alone against this terrible foe. His armour rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day that the Line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, nor song that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then, 'There is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King.'"

At this Annelise turned to look back at her father and saw that he had turned around and that the rest of the Company had woken up and were standing before him, watching him.

Annelise watched as her father looked into her eyes before slowly beginning to walk toward her.

"And the pale Orc?" Bilbo asked, interrupting her thoughts. "What happened to him?"

Her father was the one to answer this question. "He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago."

Annelise looked to Balin for confirmation that what her father had said was true but he was looking worriedly at Gandalf, who still sat in his original place away from the group. The look he gave she and Balin caused her blood to run cold. Gandalf couldn't really be telling her that such a cruel creature could still be alive.

The wizard must have read the question in her eyes, because his look changed to one of sadness and regret as he subtly nodded his head, confirming her thoughts.

Annelise looked sadly down at her hands before getting up to move to sit next to her father a little way away from her bedroll that lay next to Bilbo's.

Her father was sitting on a small rock leaning up against a bigger rock so Annelise sat on the ground next to him. This position put her head next to his shoulder, so she leaned over and laid her head against it.

At this, she noticed her father let go of some of the tension in his body before he laid his head down on top of hers.

"I am sorry for what happened. I know that doesn't make it better but it's true," Annelise said quietly, trying to cheer her father up a bit.

"It is not your fault, my dear. You weren't even alive yet. Thank you all the same. Your presence is enough to cheer me up," he said smiling down at her, reaching a hand up to clasp one of hers. "I am sorry I never told you the story. I know you always wanted to know what happened to my father and grandfather."

"It's alright, father. I understand now why you didn't want to tell me. It is very hard for you," Annelise said before yawning suddenly.

Thorin chuckled next to her before gently pushing her head off his shoulder. "You should rest, dear one. We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Annelise yawned one more time before saying, "Goodnight Father. I love you."

"I love you too, Annelise."

With that, Annelise walked back over to her bedroll and laid down. She saw that Bilbo was already laying back down and had finally been able to fall asleep this time.

Just before she closed her eyes, she saw Gandalf holding his pipe to his mouth with one hand, while messing with something glowing in his other. That night she dreamt of a crystal sculpture of a rose rising from the midst of flames and a small boy who watched over her as she played with the trinket.

* * *

The next day was absolute misery compared to the day before. Soon after leaving camp, the dark clouds above them had opened up and spilled rain the entire day. Annelise was very glad she had thought to wear her scarf to use as a hood. She had also grabbed her cloak out of bag that morning after seeing the sky. Not that either of them were any use now, for they had been completely soaked through within an hour.

Annelise was currently riding near the front by herself between Gandalf, who had taken the lead, and Bilbo.

Silme seemed to startle a bit when the thunder rolled a bit louder than it had been all day. She reached forward and patted her on the side of neck, whispering a few words of comfort and encouragement.

As she did this, she heard Dori yell up to the wizard leading their Company. "Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?"

"It is raining, Master Dwarf," Gandalf yelled back. "And it will continue to rain until the rain is done."

Annelise chuckled quietly at the wizard's response before looking up to the sky annoyed, as another roll of thunder sounded.

"If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard," Gandalf continued.

"Are there any?" Bilbo asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Other wizards?" This question peaked Annelise's interest and she waited rather excitedly to hear the answer the wizard gave.

"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman the White. Then there are the two Blue wizards... Do you know, I've quite forgotten their names."

This caused Annelise to chuckle again at hearing the tone of Gandalf's voice.

"And who is the fifth?"

"Well, that would be Radagast the Brown."

"Is he a great wizard? Or is he more like you?" Bilbo asked curiously. At this, Annelise tried to hold in her laugh lest Gandalf should hear her, but all that accomplished was to make her snort loudly before she coughed to try to cover it up. Gandalf turned back slightly and smiled at her with a sparkle in his eye before answering the Hobbit's question.

"I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the east. And a good thing too, for always evil will look to find a foothold in this world."

* * *

After a few days, the Company found themselves coming upon what looked to be an abandoned farm house.

"We'll camp here for the night," Thorin announced from the head of the line. "Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them. Annelise, go with them." At this, Annelise nodded as her father continued to give instructions to the others.

After searching a bit, she and her cousins found an old pen that was still in good enough condition to hold the ponies, Silme, and Gandalf's horse.

She and her cousins went to collect the ponies and horses and Annelise noticed that Gandalf was missing, along with his horse.

She pulled Bilbo to the side and asked where the wizard had gone.

"I don't know. He and Thorin were speaking together and suddenly Gandalf was leaving. He seemed rather angry though. He and Thorin must have been arguing about the path ahead."

"Oh dear. Well hopefully he will be back before night falls. Goodnight, Master Burglar," Annelise said with a smile before leading Silme and some of the ponies back toward the pen.

After putting up the ponies and Silme, Annelise went to sit next to Kili to keep watch with him as Fili checked that the animals had sufficient food.

"So how are you enjoying our journey so far, Annelise," Kili asked, while inspecting his arrows.

"I have enjoyed it so far. Mr. Baggins has told me wonderful stories of the Shire. He seems to miss it very much."

"Yes, I'm sure he misses his pocket handkerchiefs and feather pillows," Fili said teasingly as he walked up to sit on the other side of her.

"Oh hush," Annelise scolded lightly with a smile, before bumping his shoulder with hers.

"And what do you think of this wizard we have in our company?" Kili asked absently, focusing on one of the arrows he was holding in his hand.

"I don't know what to think. He seems very secretive, but he also seems very wise," Annelise said trailing off, trying to decided whether or not to tell her cousins what the wizard had spoken to her about during their night in Bag End.

Kili heard the uncertainty in her voice as she spoke of the wizard. He could tell by the look on her face that something was bothering her. "What is the matter, Annelise?"

At this question, Fili quickly looked away from the animals to study the young woman sitting next to him. "You look like something is on your mind," he added staring into her eyes as she looked toward him.

Annelise sighed before saying, "If I tell you, you must promise not to tell my father. He has enough to worry about already."

Fili and Kili looked at each other hesitantly before slowly nodding their heads in agreement.

"Very well," Annelise said, sighing in defeat. "The night we stayed in Bag End, I couldn't sleep. I decided to clean in the kitchen and dining room a bit to tire myself out. As I was walking back to my room after an hour, I saw Gandalf sitting in front of the fireplace. When I first saw him earlier that evening, I thought he looked familiar and I stood there for a moment looking at him trying to figure out where I recognised him from. He noticed me there and we began speaking. I asked if we had met before and he told me that we had."

Fili and Kili seemed surprised at this information, but were not too concerned about it until Annelise continued.

"He said we had met before I came to live with Thorin." This caused both Fili and Kili's mouths to drop open in astonishment. That the wizard would know who Annelise really was had never crossed their minds. Now they could understand why she didn't want them to tell their uncle.

"Did he tell you how he knew you?" Kili asked finally. Annelise could tell by his tone that he was surprised, but what shocked her was the deep sadness she could also hear.

"No, he did not. He said the time for me to know had not yet come, but that it would be soon," Annelise answered hesitantly, not wanting to hurt the two men she thought of as brothers.

"That's good," Kili said, trying to cover up his sadness and smile for her a little. It turned out to be more of a grimace.

Annelise looked at her dark haired cousin for a long time before turning to his brother. Fili wore nearly the same expression as his younger brother, though he was better at concealing the sadness in his eyes.

"I know it is hard for you, but I promise you no matter what I find out you with always be my brothers. And Thorin will always be my father." At this Annelise reached around and hugged Kili tightly before moving to do the same to Fili.

Kili soon reached over and hugged her as she was hugging Fili so that she was sandwiched between the two of them. She had always felt so safe in the arms of her two protectors and now was no different.

The brothers soon let her go and sat back against the trees they had been leaning on.

After a few minutes, Fili got up and touched the side of Annelise's face before moving to check on the animals again.

Annelise decided to lean her head on Kili's shoulder for a bit until Fili came back.

She had just started to drift off to sleep when Fili came running frantically back to them.

Kili quickly jumped up with Annelise right behind him and asked what was wrong.

"Two of the ponies are missing," he said quickly.

Kili and Annelise were soon running behind him toward the rest of the animals. Annelise saw that Silme was still exactly where she left her but two of the ponies that had been next to her were gone.

She and her cousins simply stood there for a moment before Annelise heard footsteps coming up from behind them. She turned to see Bilbo Baggins walking up with three bowls of soup perched precariously in his hands.

She quickly grabbed one of the bowls from him and set it on a nearby fallen tree before going back to looking at her cousins as they stared at the remaining ponies and Silme.

Bilbo then stepped up to hand the two remaining bowls to the brothers, but they didn't even seem to notice him standing between them, holding the bowls out to them.

The Hobbit looked between the two of them before asking, "What's the matter?"

Kili quickly said, "We're supposed to be looking after the ponies."

Fili continued after him, "Only we've encountered a slight problem. We had 17. Now there's 15. Daisy and Bungo are missing."

"Well that's not good," Bilbo said chuckling nervously, "and that's not good at all," he finished looking at a tree that had been uprooted. "Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"

"Uh, no. Let's not worry him," Kili said quickly. Annelise snickered to herself. 'You just don't want to get in trouble again,' she thought to herself smirking at the back of Kili's head. "As our official burglar," Kili continued, "we thought you might like to look into it."

Annelise couldn't help but shake her head in pity for the poor Hobbit.

"Well, uh, look, something big uprooted these trees," he said pointing at one of the big trees that was thrown across the ground.

"That was our thinking," Fili said.

"Something very big and possibly quite dangerous," Bilbo finished as he followed behind Fili around the uprooted tree.

"Hey," Fili said crouching down and looking to his left. "There's a light. Over here," he finished waving Annelise and Kili over before getting lower and moving toward it.

"Stay down," Kili said to Annelise and Bilbo as they followed behind the brothers.

Annelise could hear grunting and laughing coming from the direction of the light and she couldn't help but feel a bit afraid.

"What is it?" Bilbo asked Fili quietly.

Kili was the one to answer the Hobbit. "Trolls." As he said this, he stood and began running towards the fire light with Fili next to him. Annelise and Bilbo followed behind and Annelise couldn't help but roll her eyes when she saw Bilbo stop and run back to grab Fili and Kili's soup bowls.

She and Bilbo had to quickly duck behind a tree as they saw a troll walking by carrying two more ponies.

"He's got Myrtle and Minty," Bilbo exclaimed quietly but angrily. "I think they're going to eat them. We have to do something."

At these words, Annelise seemed a bit apprehensive. Surely nothing good could come of taking on such huge trolls.


	8. Chapter 8

After Bilbo spoke, Annelise saw her cousins look to the Hobbit with a look in their eyes that she did not trust. At the sight, she got a bad feeling that things would not go well for the Hobbit.

Her intuition was proven right when she heard the words that came out of Kili's mouth the next second.

"Yes, you should," Kili said, walking up to Bilbo and grabbing him and taking on of the bowls from his hands, before pushing him over to Fili. "Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small, they'll never see you."

The whole time Kili was speaking, Annelise was standing behind Kili shaking her head, while Bilbo was protesting against everything Kili said.

"It's perfectly safe. We'll be right behind you," Kili continued. Annelise couldn't help but roll her eyes at the back of her cousins' head when she heard that statement.

"If you run into trouble," Fili continued, grabbing the last bowl from Bilbo's hand, "hoot twice like a barn owl and once like a brown owl."

As he finished speaking, Fili pushed Bilbo out passed the trees creating their hiding spot and the Hobbit began walking toward the troll's fire.

Annelise could hear the Hobbit whispering Fili's instructions to himself as he moved closer.

Once he moved out of range of hearing them, Fili and Kili turned to run back to the camp to get help.

At first, Annelise followed her cousin's before she turned and looked back at the Hobbit.

'I can't just let him do this alone. He doesn't even have a weapon. What if he is seen and gets caught?' Annelise thought to herself.

She turned back to look at her cousins but they were already out of sight. Seeing that they weren't there to dissuade her, Annelise turned and ran as quietly as she could toward Bilbo and troll's fire.

When Annelise reached the edge of the clearing, she stopped just outside of the ring of light to assess the situation. The first thing she noticed was one of the trolls holding the nose of another before yelling at him to sit down.

At the strange sight, Annelise was a bit confused but shook the thought from her head as she looked around trying to spot the small Hobbit.

As Annelise heard one of the trolls sneeze, she saw Bilbo standing by a makeshift pen holding the ponies.

Annelise slowly began walking around the edge of the clearing, trying to get closer to the Hobbit so that she could help him.

While she did this, the trolls continued speaking. Annelise ignored most of their conversation until she heard them talking about the ponies. One of them began moving toward them and she stopped quickly and turned to look at Bilbo to make sure that he was alright. She was relieved to see that the troll moved away at the command of the leader.

Annelise quickly tried to move over to where she had last seen Bilbo, but by the time she got over to the pen, the Hobbit was gone.

She looked around frantically and finally saw him standing behind one of the trolls. From what she could tell, it looked like he was trying to steal it's knife.

She was just about to try and get his attention when the troll reached behind himself to grab a cloth and then sneezed all over the Hobbit.

Annelise couldn't help but cringe in disgust when she saw all of the snot that was covering the poor Hobbit's body.

The troll threw Bilbo to the ground in disgust and Annelise quickly drew an arrow from her quiver and set it in her bow.

Bilbo had stood up and found himself surrounded by trolls.

Before she took aim at the leader of the trolls, it began to speak.

"What are you then? An oversized squirrel?"

Bilbo answered nervously, "I'm a burgla-hobbit!"

"A burglarhobbit?" said the second troll.

"Can we cook it?" asked the first, to which the second replied, "We can try!"

At these words, all three of the trolls began moving closer to Bilbo, causing Annelise to draw her arrow back to her cheek.

"He wouldn't make more than a mouthful. Not when he's skinned and boned!" the third troll said poking Bilbo with his spoon. This pushed Bilbo back toward the first troll, making Annelise changed the direction of her aim.

"Perhaps there's more burglarhobbits around here. Might be enough for a pie!" said the first troll, pushing poor Bilbo toward the second troll.

"Grab him!" yelled the second troll. All the trolls tried to grab the Hobbit, but missed him. "He's too quick!"

Annelise tried to find a good shot to help Bilbo escape but the trolls were moving too much and she didn't want to risk hitting the Hobbit.

"Aww, come here you little-! Gotcha!" yelled the first troll as he caught Bilbo by the foot and held him upside down with a knife pointed at him. "Are there any more of you little fellas hiding were you shouldn't?"

"No!"

"He's lying!" said the second troll. "Hold his toes over the fire! Make him squeal!"

At this, Annelise let her arrow go and it hit the wrist of the troll that was holding Bilbo in the air. The troll yelled loudly and dropped the Hobbit, who thankfully landed on his back.

As this happened, Annelise heard the third troll yelp loudly and turned to see that Kili had sliced him in the back of the leg. Annelise quickly ran into the clearing toward her cousin to help him, but was grabbed by the third troll.

The troll held Annelise around her middle and squeezed, making her scream in pain.

"Well what do we have here? You're much too pretty to be a burglarhobbit. You must be one of the race of Men," the troll said holding her close to his face.

"Let her go!" Kili yelled loudly to the troll. Just as he yelled this, Annelise saw her father burst from the forest into the clearing along with the rest of the dwarves.

"Annelise!" he yelled. "Let my daughter go!" he said charging at the third troll and cutting him across the leg.

The troll yelled in pain and loosened his grip enough that Annelise was able to kick his in the face, causing him to drop her.

She fell to the ground and stood to see the rest of the company taking on the trolls. She quickly looked to check that Bilbo was alright and saw him trying to let the ponies free. She ran over to him, occasionally shooting an arrow at the trolls.

Once she reached him she put her bow back in her quiver and drew one of her twin blades and quickly cut through the rope holding the ponies in. She had just put the blade back into it's health in her quiver when she was grabbed around the middle again. Judging by the yelp she heard from Bilbo, Annelise could tell that he had been caught as well.

She was held in one of the hands of the first troll while the second and third each had a hold on Bilbo's arms and legs.

The Company saw Bilbo in the arms of the trolls and Kili yelled his name and began charging them, before her father stopped him.

The first troll walked closer to the Company and Annelise knew the exact moment her father saw her, for his shoulders sank a little and his eyes lost the fire they held whenever he fought.

"Annelise," she heard him say quietly.

Fili took a step closer toward her but the troll holding her held what looked to be a very crude fork to her stomach. This caused her cousin to stop short and lower his weapon a fraction.

"Lower your arms! Or we'll rip his off!" yelled the third troll, tightening his hold on Bilbo.

The Company didn't move, so the troll holding Annelise pushed his weapon into her stomach further. Annelise knew that if she hadn't been wearing her jerkin, the metal would have already cut into her skin.

"Do it or I'll gut the girl!" yelled the troll.

At this, Annelise saw her father and cousins throw their weapons down and the rest of the dwarves followed soon after.

The trolls placed Bilbo, Annelise, Thorin, Fili, Kili, Dwalin, and Bombur into sacks and tied the rest to a log that was rotating over their fire.

Annelise was sitting between Bilbo and her father on the ground with her back against a rock.

"Are you alright, Annelise?" Thorin asked quietly, trying not to draw the attention of the trolls.

"I'm alright, Father. Not a scratch, though I may have a few bruises from that troll's fork," Annelise said with a chuckle, trying to distract her father from his thoughts. She knew he hated it when she got hurt.

Annelise then went back to listening to whatever that trolls were saying when she heard something interesting.

"I don't fancy being turned into stone."

Annelise quickly turned to Bilbo and asked what they had been talking about.

"They said something about not having all night and that dawn was approaching. That's when they mentioned turning into stone. Maybe sunlight turns them into stone," Bilbo explained excitedly, without making too much noise.

"Well that's perfect then! If we can distract them until dawn, then we can get out of here!"

"Ok, just follow my lead," Bilbo said, before yelling to the trolls.

"Wait! You are making a terrible mistake."

"You can't reason with 'em! They're half-wits!" yelled one of the dwarves above the fire.

"Half-wits? If they're half-wits, what does that make us?" Bofur said sarcastically.

"No, he's right! You're making a mistake!" Annelise yelled loudly, trying to help Bilbo out.

Bilbo quickly somehow managed to stand up before saying, "I mean with the, uh, with the seasoning."

"Yeah I don't know where you're going with this now," Annelise said leaning back against the rock again.

"What about the seasoning?" asked the third troll, leaning down closer to the Hobbit.

"Well, have you smelt them? You're gonna need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up."

"Hurtful," Annelise mumbled quietly under her breath, while the rest of the dwarves protested loudly.

"What do you know about cooking dwarves?" asked the first troll.

"Shut up. Let the, uh, flurgaburburhobbit talk," said the third troll.

Annelise couldn't help but snort quietly when Bilbo nodded gratefully at the troll before turning to the first troll again.

"Uh, the secret to cooking dwarf is...uh. The secret is-"

"Yes what is it?"

"It's uh-"

"Tell us the secret."

"Yes, I'm telling you. The secret is...to skin them first," Bilbo finished uncertainly.

'You don't sound so sure about that, Bilbo,' Annelise thought to herself with a small smirk on her face.

At these words, the dwarves began protesting loudly and shouting some rather rude things at Bilbo. Annelise quickly turned to her father and whispered quietly so she would not be overheard.

"Father, you need to trust Bilbo. He has a plan."

After a moment, Thorin glanced from his daughter's eyes to the small Hobbit standing before the three large trolls, before nodding slightly in her direction.

The first troll turned to the others as this was going on. "Fetch me my filleting knife," he said waving his hand behind him.

These words caused the dwarves to yell even louder, throwing rude comments at the Hobbit.

"What a load of rubbish!" yelled the second troll. "I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scarf 'em I say, boots an' all!"

Annelise noticed Bilbo glancing at something behind him quickly, before turning toward the trolls once more.

"He's right," added the third troll. "Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf!"

With these words, the troll moved to pick up Bombur and dangle him above his head by the dwarve's feet.

"Nice and crunchy!" he exclaimed, before he began lowering the larger dwarf toward his mouth.

Annelise quickly jumped up from her place leaning against the Rock and her father before yelling, "No, wait! You don't want to eat that one!"

Quickly Bilbo caught on and decided to add on, "He's infected! Not that one!"

This caused the troll to stop and look back at Bilbo. "Huh?!"

"You wot?" added the second troll, upon hearing the words the Hobbit spoke.

"Yeah, he's got worms in his..." Bilbo began, drifting off uncertainly.

"In his tubes," Annelise quickly supplied.

"His tubes, yes in his tubes," the hobbit said, nodding his head quickly.

At this, the troll dropped Bombur, causing him to land on top of Kili. In a less serious situation, Annelise might have laughed at the face her cousin made.

"In fact, they all have. They're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it. I really wouldn't," Bilbo continued as the trolls looked down at their catch with some apprehension.

"Parasites?! Did he say parasites?!" Oin exclaimed loudly to Kili.

"Yeah we don't have parasites! You have parasites!" Kili yelled back at Bilbo.

Annelise glanced around and saw her father and Balin rolling their eyes at her cousin, as Bilbo tried not to look entirely annoyed.

The dwarves continued to yell at Bilbo, before Thorin gave Kili and Oin a quick kick, causing them to be silent.

There was a pause when the pair looked up at Thorin, before turning back around.

Annelise couldn't contain her small chuckle at the next words that came out of Kili and Oin's mouths.

"I've got parasites as big as my arm!" the old dwarf exclaimed.

"Mine are the biggest parasites! I've got huge parasites!" Kili added.

Soon the rest of the company caught on to Bilbo's plan and began yelling about their 'parasites' as well.

Annelise watched the trolls as they began looking around, obviously not knowing what to do with a company of dwarves with parasites.

"What would you have us do, then?" the first troll said, approaching Bilbo slowly. Annelise began inching her way closer to the Hobbit as the troll drew nearer.

"Let them all go?!"

"Well..." Bilbo began, tilting his head to the side nonchalantly.

"Do you think I don't know what you're up to?!"

With these words, the lead troll reached toward Bilbo. Annelise, anticipating the troll's movements, jumped in front of Bilbo before the troll reached him. The troll changed the direction of his swing and pushed Annelise to the ground. She landed on her left shoulder, and felt it hit a rock on the ground. Even through the bag she was in, she could feel the rock cut through her skin.

"Annelise!" her father and Bilbo called out at the same time, after hearing the quiet shout of pain that escaped her mouth when she hit the ground.

The trolls paid her no mind and continued on as though nothing had happened.

"This little ferret is taking us for fools," the first troll said as he went back to spinning the log that held a few of the dwarves above their fire.

"Ferret?" Bilbo protested, obviously offended by the name.

"Fools?" echoed the second troll.

"The dawn will take you all!" yelled a voice Annelise couldn't have been more relieved to hear.

"Gandalf!" Annelise cried quietly, as the wizard stood upon a large boulder behind the trolls looking upon the scene before him.

"Who's that?"

"No idea."

"Can we eat him too?"

At this, the grey wizard raised his staff and slammed it down upon the rock below him. The impact caused the stone to crack and Gandalf quickly stepped to the side as it crumbled, to reveal the rising sun behind it.

When the sun hit Annelise's skin, she couldn't help but feel strengthened and refreshed. She closed her eyes momentarily, soaking up the first light of the day. Feeling the heat the light gave off warmed her heart and helped to raise her spirits.

She quickly opened her eyes when she heard the yells coming from the trolls. The sunlight was having the opposite effect as it did for her. The trolls' bodies when hardening and turning into stone as the light touched them. Soon all that was left as proof of their ordeal was three stone statues and a huge fire, dwarves still hanging over it.


	9. Chapter 9

The laughs and shouts of relief that passed through the company were ringing through the clearing as Annelise tried to stand up after her fall. As she attempted to move her left shoulder, she couldn't help but yell from the pain that shot through her  
body at the movement.

Bilbo quickly hopped over to her, while at the same time trying to free himself from his bonds.

Gandalf reached the young girl first, moving to free her from her sack while being careful of her shoulder. Once she was free, she looked down and noticed that the stone had cut through both the bag and her sleeve to leave a rather nasty looking wound in her shoulder.

By that time, her father had been freed and he quickly made his way to his daughter's side.

"We will need to clean and bandage that wound before it gets infected," he said quietly.

When he would not meet her eyes, Annelise knew that he was blaming himself for not keeping her from being hurt.

"Addâd, I am alright," Annelise said gently, using the name she quit using when she was twelve because it made her feel like a baby. When Thorin heard her speak in his native tongue, using that quiet voice, it threw his mind back to a small girl with  
dark hair that was just growing past her shoulders.

The child was running ahead of her two cousins toward him, with her arms wide open to greet him as he came home from another long day at the forge.

He couldn't help but look up into those same eyes and see how much they had aged in just the few years since then.

"I know," he said finally, patting her head and getting up to allow Gandalf and Bilbo to tend to her wound.

"I'm afraid you will need to remove your tunic so that I can properly bandage your shoulder," Gandalf said, while going through the bag of supplies that Bilbo handed him. It seemed that while she was speaking with her father, the Hobbit had run back to their camp with a few of the other dwarves to retrieve some of their things.

Gandalf stood once he found what he was looking for and reached a hand down to help Annelise up.

Nodding her thanks, she then followed him until they were mostly hidden behind a rock from the company so that she could remove her shirt.

Once she was settled, Gandalf pulled out a green plant from one of the small bags and began chewing on it before sticking it to the cut in her shoulder. Annelise instantly recognised the scent coming from the plant and inhaled deeply to breath in the  
smell.

"Athelas..." she said, sighing as the familiar scent brought back fond memories of her childhood tending to her father and cousins various injuries.

"Very good," Gandalf said, breaking through her thoughts. "I am glad to see Thorin has taught you so much, though I am surprised that you know it by that name."

"When Father and my cousins were away, I would spend my time studying books on healing and other subjects. I even taught myself Elvish, although my father was not happy about that," Annelise said, chuckling as she remembered her father's reaction to see her pouring over giant books written in the beautiful language. "I'm afraid that my resources were rather limited though, so I'm certainly not fluent."

"I am sure that it was not difficult for you to understand the language," Gandalf added absentmindedly, as his attention was focused on wrapping the bandage around her shoulder and across her chest.

"It was actually rather easy. How did you know that?"

Gandalf paused in his movements before looking into Annelise's eyes intently. "Your parents taught you the language when you were young, living in Rivendell."

This new information caused Annelise to gasp quietly before thinking over the new bit of information the wizard had given her.

"I was born in Rivendell?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid that story is for another time that is soon approaching," Gandalf replied, tying of her bandage and handing her back her shirt.

"Sooner than your father will like."

With those words and a kind look back at her, the wizard left Annelise to dress and ponder her thoughts.

'What could he mean? Am I finally going to find out how I came to be with my father? And how did I end up in Gondor if I was born in Rivendell? What was I even doing in Rivendell? I'm a Man, not an elf.'

With these thoughts running through her head, Annelise turned back and walked toward the rest of the company.

The others were finally all free, so she went and stood next to Bilbo as he watched Gandalf and her father speaking.

"That was really quick thinking on your part. If you hadn't distracted them, I'm sure all of us would have been stew by now."

"Jam more likely," Bilbo said, trying to lighten up the conversation but Annelise could see that the smile he had on his face wasn't reaching his eyes.

"What's wrong Bilbo?" she asked quietly.

"You are very right that we could have died. I guess it is really starting to hit me just how much is at stake on the journey. And we aren't even facing the dragon yet."

Annelise looked down at the small hobbit. She could see the worry in his eyes and knew that a part of him was regretting coming on this quest.

She gently put her hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up into her eyes.

"It is alright to be afraid. I am terrified. Admitting that fear is a great strength, not a weakness. By accepting your fear, you come one step closer to overcoming it."

Bilbo stared up at her for a moment, contemplating what she had said. After a moment, he realised something that changed the way he viewed the women beside him. 'She is just as terrified as I am. She just won't let it show.'

"The same goes for you, miss. You don't have to pretend to be so brave in front of the Company."

Annelise smiled gratefully down at the hobbit before removing her hand from his shoulder.

"I have found that it is easiest to be brave, when you have accepted your fears and chosen not to allow them to take hold of you. So if it appears that I am not afraid, that is wrong. I am terrified. I simply choose to embrace that fear."

At this, Bilbo could not find the right words to respond so he simply looked up at Annelise and smiled genuinely, before walking to help a few members of the company round up the last of their supplies.

"How is your shoulder?"

Annelise turned and saw Fili walking toward her, with Kili a few feet behind him.

"It is alright. Gandalf took care of it."

"Well hopefully it won't be too much of a hindrance. At least it was your left shoulder, and not your right," Kili added, moving to stand on her right, while Fili stood to her left.

The siblings stood in silence next to their cousin, looking over their companions while keeping an eye on her as well. Soon after, Thorin came to join the group.

"How are you?" he asked, throwing a concerned glance to her shoulder.

"I am fine. It's nothing to worry about," she said smiling down at her father.

"Very well," he said, glancing at both his nephews. Each nodded to him, and Annelise knew they were silently promising that they'd keep an eye on her.

"Gandalf and I believe that there is a cave nearby that the trolls would have stayed in during the daylight hours. We will be leaving in just a few minutes to try and find it."

At this, Annelise and her cousins nodded before moving to gather their things.

* * *

Annelise knew that they were nearing the entrance of the troll's cave when a smell that she never wanted to encounter again wafted up into her nostrils. She couldn't help the small gag at the repulsive scent.

As most of the company went into the cave, Annelise stayed in the back of the group trying to stay as close to fresh air as she could while still being able to see inside the troll hoard.

"Oh what's that stench?" Nori said as the group began entering the cave.

"It's a troll-hoard," Gandalf answered, sounding slightly exasperated at the question. "Be careful what you touch."

The rest of the Company began coughing and gagging the further into the cave they went.

"It seems a shame just to leave it lying around," Bofur said, looking down at something Annelise couldn't see.

Her curiosity quickly got the best of her. She grabbed part of her cloak and held it over her nose and mouth to attempt to block out a bit of the smell. She walked deeper into the cave to see that Bofur was talking about a rather large pile of gold just laying on the ground.

She turned around to see her father wandering toward what looked to be a rack of swords.

He set down the torch he was carrying and went to pick up two of them.

"These swords were not made by any troll." This statement grabbed Annelise's attention and she moved over to her father's side.

The largest of the swords he handed off to Gandalf, who had joined him on his right.

"Nor were they made by any smith among Men," the wizard added, admiring the hilt before removing the blade a bit from it's sheath. "These were forged in Gondolin."

Annelise gasped upon hearing that name. In her elvish studies, she had read of the fall of the hidden city and the events leading to its destruction.

"By the High Elves of the First Age," Gandalf continued.

These words caused Thorin to falter in his own admiration of the blade in his hand. Annelise could not help but roll her eyes at her father's prejudice.

"You could not wish for a finer blade!" Gandalf exclaimed as her father moved to put the sword back to where he had grabbed it from. At this, Thorin drew the blade back from its scabbard and Annelise looked over his shoulder to admire the craftsmanship  
of the sword. She had never seen its equal.

Annelise stood back with Gandalf as her father moved closer to the entrance of the cave.

"You have heard of Gondolin then?" Gandalf asked suddenly, still looking down at the sword in his hands.

"Yes, I read about it in my studies. It was always one of my favourites, even though it is not very happy."

Before the wizard had a chance to reply, Annelise heard her father yell out, "Let's get out of this foul place. Come on, let's go!"

Annelise and Gandalf began making their way behind the rest of the group when Annelise heard the wizard step on something. Gandalf stopped and looked down before moving some of the leaves and other things out of the way with his staff. Annelise bent down and picked up what seemed to be a small dagger. She withdrew it a bit and saw that the blade was made of the same material as the swords that were now in her father and Gandalf's possession.

"I think that is a very good size for our dear Bilbo, don't you think?" Gandalf said smiling down at the young woman.

"Yes, I do believe you're right," she said before standing and handing the blade off to him.

At this, the two began making their way out of the cave together.

* * *

Once they were out, Gandalf called Bilbo over to them.

"Here," he said, handing the dagger over to the hobbit. "This is about your size."

"I can't take this," the small hobbit protested quietly.

"The blade is of Elvish make, which means it will glow blue when orcs or goblins are nearby."

"Amazing," Annelise whispered quietly under her breath, when she heard what Gandalf had said.

Bilbo glanced back at the Company, then to Annelise, before looking the wizard in the eyes again.

"I have never used a sword in my life," he protested finally.

"And I hope you never have to," Gandalf answered sombrely. "But if you do, remember this: true courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one."

Bilbo glanced up at the wizard, thinking over his words before a voice broke through the silence that had surrounded the three of them.

"Something's coming!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Something's coming!" Thorin yelled out to the company.

Annelise and Bilbo quickly looked in the direction of the shout as Gandalf moved over to Thorin.

"Gandalf," Bilbo started saying, worry lacing his tone.

"Stay together!" the wizard yelled. "Hurry now! Arm yourselves!"

At these words, Annelise pulled her bow from across her shoulder and grabbed an arrow, setting it in place. She looked down and noticed Bilbo pull his small blade from its sheath.

"You are much braver than you believe yourself to be," she said quietly as the rest of the Company began running off after Gandalf.

Bilbo looked up into her eyes for a moment before nodding, a determined look crossing his face. With that he turned and followed the others, with Annelise right behind him.

When they caught up to the others, they stopped and prepared to face their foe.

What burst from the brush ahead of them was the last thing Annelise expected. A sled pulled by what seemed to be large rabbits burst from the foliage, carrying an old man who was yelling wildly.

"Thieves! Fire! Murder!"

The sled came to a stop in front of Gandalf and Bilbo. The man looked around with a crazed look in his eyes. Annelise found herself moving closer to the hobbit and tightening her grip on her bow.

Her posture soon relaxed, while the look on her face turned to confusion at the grey wizard's next words.

"Radagast! It's Radagast the Brown! Well... What on earth are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, Gandalf. Something's wrong. Somethings terribly wrong."

"Yes?"

With this the brown wizard opened his mouth as though he was about to say something and then suddenly paused. "Oh!" he said starting again and Annelise realised that he seemed to have forgotten what was so important. She couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly at the man's behaviour.

"Just give me a minute!"

At these words, the rest of the Company looked around at each other, lowering their weapons in confusion. Annelise lowered her bow and started rubbing her shoulder, realising that she'd forgotten about her wound. Bilbo noticed her motion and looked at her with worry, but she quickly smiled down at him and shook her head.

"Oh, I had a thought and now I've lost it. It-it was right there on the top of my tongue. Oh! It's not a thought at all," these last words said in a strange way that made Annelise think there was something in his mouth. Her thoughts were proved correct, to her disgust, as the brown wizard continued.

"It is a little...stick insect," he said sticking his tongue out. Annelise watched on as Gandalf reached out to his tongue and indeed pulled out a small stick insect from Radagast's mouth. She couldn't help but shudder in disgust and looked down to see that Bilbo wore the same look she expected was on her face at that moment.

Soon after that, Gandalf and Radagast moved away from the others to talk in private.

Annelise looked down at Bilbo and then to her cousins who were standing nearby before simply stately, "Well that was one of the more strange things I've seen in my life." With that, she casually moved over to her left and sat on a rock.

At her simple words, her cousins chuckled quietly and Bilbo moved to sit on the ground near her.

"So how old are you?" Bilbo asked quietly before realising what he'd said. "I'm sorry! That was rude! I-I didn't mean to say it like that or-"

"Bilbo it's alright," Annelise cut him off quickly, chuckling at how flustered the hobbit seemed.

"I'm not sure exactly how old I am. Father thinks I was around two or three when I was left with him and that was 22 years ago the week before we met. So I would say I'm 25," she said smiling down at the surprised look on his face.

"If you do not mind me saying, miss, you certainly look much younger. I thought you might have only been eighteen."

"You would not be the first to be surprised at my age. When my father first found me he thought I was only a year old from how small I was. As I got older he realised that I was aging slower than the other children around me. With how well I could speak and walk, he realised I must have been closer to three."

"And you know nothing of where you came from?"

Annelise looked up to make sure that her cousins and father were not within hearing distance before turning back to Bilbo.

"When I first met Gandalf in your home, something about him seemed familiar to me, like I had met him before. When I asked him, he told me that he had known me before I came to be with my father. I spoke to him again while he was cleaning my wound and he revealed that I had been born in Rivendell."

This bit of information caused the hobbit to raise his eyebrows in surprise. "Do you know why you were in Rivendell?"

"No but Gandalf said that it would not be long until I learned why," she said, glancing over to where the two wizards were talking. She saw Radagast handing Gandalf a long package wrapped in cloth and Annelise couldn't help but shudder at the feeling that passed over her when she saw it.

"Are you alright?" Bilbo asked, noticing her discomfort.

"Yes, I am just worried about how learning about my past might affect my father and cousins," she said quickly, not completely lying to the Hobbit.

"I am sure that everything will be fine," he said patting her hands that had begun playing with her bow string that was sitting in her lap.

Suddenly there was a loud howl echoing through the forest and Annelise quickly jumped up, with an arrow back in place looking around them.

"Was that a wolf? Are there wolves out there?" Bilbo asked with slight fear.

"Wolves? No that is not a wolf," Bofur said lifting up his weapon.

"Wargs," Annelise spit out under her breath to the Hobbit.

She suddenly heard heavy footsteps behind her and turned as a warg started growling down at them. She quickly shot it down before the others had a chance to turn, knowing that she was able to hear it before them.

Another came running from behind her father and Kili shot it before it could reach him. Dwalin threw his axe down finishing the warg off.

"Warg scouts," he father said. "Which means an Orc pack is not far behind."

"Orc pack?" Bilbo said with disbelief.

"Who did you tell about your quest beyond your kin?" Gandalf asked angrily.

"No one."

"Who did you tell?" Gandalf yelled again.

"No one, I swear!" Thorin answered again. "What in Durin's name is going on?"

"You are being hunted," the wizard replied.

"We have to get out of here," Dwalin said from beside Annelise.

"We can't!" Ori yelled. "We have no ponies and the horses have run too!"

Howling continued around them as Annelise looked around with worry. 'Oh Silme, please be alright,' she thought to herself. She had grown rather fond of the white mare.

"I'll draw them off," said a determined Radagast. Annelise turned to look at him in disbelief.

"How?" she said.

"These are Gundabad Wargs. They will outrun you," Gandalf said, turning to his brown counterpart.

"These are Rhosgobel rabbits," Radagast replied, pointing at the rabbits behind him. "I'd like to see them try."

Annelise couldn't help but released an impressed chuckle at the brown wizards words.

* * *

All around them, the howling of the Wargs continued causing Annelise to began to get a bit nervous about their chances of getting out of their current situation.

Radagast had left quickly on the back of his sled and she was glad to hear that the howls seemed to be getting further away. But she knew that they were not out of trouble yet.

Once getting out of the woods, Annelise could see the Orc pack following the wizard across a valley with no covering, except for a few boulders here and there. Once they got out there, there would be few places for them to hide.

"Come on," Gandalf said from the front of the group and they all moved to follow him out of their cover.

Annelise did not like feeling so exposed, even though Radagast was leading the pack the opposite way.

They continued running across the plains with Thorin and Gandalf leading. They stopped when they saw Radagast and the pack to their left.

"Stay together," Gandalf said before turning so that the pack was to their backs.

They kept running until they got behind a huge rock when Thorin yelled, "Ori no! Get back!," pushing the dwarf behind him and signalling for the others to stop behind the cover of the rock.

Annelise looked ahead and saw Radagast leading the pack away again.

"Come on all of you! Quick," Gandalf said to the group.

"Where are you leading us?" Thorin asked the wizard but Gandalf kept moving.

Annelise looked down at her father in confusion before following the wizard with Thorin right behind her.

Soon after leaving that rock, they were forced to hide behind another. As soon as they all stopped, Annelise looked up as she heard something from the rock behind her head. She kept listening and her eyes widened when she realised what the sound was. There was a warg on the rock right above them.

She could hear its steps and the breath of the Orc on top of it. Her father looked at her and saw the fear in her eyes. She nodded slightly and he turned his head to look up the rock.

She knew he had seen the warg when he looked over at Kili and nodded. Her cousin quietly drew an arrow before stepping out of his cover and shooting the warg.

Annelise saw the Orc reach for a horn and she quickly shot him as well causing the warg to fall down from the rock toward them.

The rest of the dwarves tried to take down the warg as quickly as possible but Annelise knew that its screams and growls had given away their position.

Her suspicions were confirmed when suddenly a great howl came from the pack as they began coming near them. She looked over to see Gandalf looking out at the plains before them as though he was looking for something in particular.

"Move! Run!" he yelled suddenly, causing the Company to jump into action at his words.

They ran even faster than they had before and Annelise was relieved when they reached a spot that had a few trees and hills even though it did not provide them with complete cover.

"There they are!" someone yelled and Annelise looked ahead to see that the pack had managed to get in front of them.

"This way!" Gandalf yelled, pointing to their right. "Quickly," he added, already heading in that direction.

Annelise quickly caught up with him because of her longer legs and asked, "Gandalf where are we going?"

"You'll find out soon enough, my dear," he answered with a sad look in his eyes, before the look was replaced with determination again.

Annelise looked ahead again and saw that there were two Wargs ahead of them now.

"There's more coming!" Kili yelled from behind them and Annelise looked around to see that they had been surrounded.

"Kili, shoot them!" Thorin yelled to his nephew.

"We're surrounded!" Fili yelled to his uncle.

Annelise turned from looking at her father and cousins to look at Gandalf only to see that he had disappeared. She was worried for a moment but decided the wizard probably had a plan before she moved toward Bilbo who was standing by himself at that moment.

"Where is Gandalf?" Dori asked.

"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin yelled.

Annelise grabbed her bow and began shooting the Wargs while Kili did the same from where he was standing.

"Hold your ground!" her father yelled, brandishing the Elvish sword he had acquired.

The Wargs began closing in as Annelise pulled Bilbo behind her so that he was in the middle of their circle.

"This way, you fools!" Gandalf suddenly yelled from Annelise's left, popping out from behind a rock.

"Come on, move!" Thorin yelled at the group before moving toward where Gandalf had disappeared to again.

Thorin stood a top on of the rocks and ordered the rest of them down into the hole that was below it. Bofur was the first in, followed by Bilbo and Balin. Annelise and Kili stayed back covering their escape, though Annelise was slowing inching her way toward her father.

One warg got through and reached Thorin before he quickly disposed of it.

"Kili! Run!" her father yelled back to his nephew. Annelise was standing next to her father now, covering her cousin's retreat as the pack drew in closer.

"Annelise, go now!" he father ordered.

"But Kili-"

"Now!"

Annelise reluctantly nodding to her father before sliding down the hole to join the others. Once she was on her feet, she turned to the entrance and drew her arrow back again, waiting for her cousin with fear coursing through her body. She relaxed a bit with relief when she saw Fili, Kili, and her father slide down soon after her.

Once they were all standing, a strange horn sounded across the plains. Although she could not place it, Annelise was surprised when she realised that she recognised it. She looked to Gandalf, about to question him on the sound, when they began hearing arrows being released and the sounds of the Orc pack being taken down.

They all kept a wary eye on the entrance to the hole, that Annelise realised looked more like a tunnel now that she was down in it. Suddenly an Orc fell down the hole and landed amongst them. Gandalf quickly put his staff down near its neck in case it was not dead, but Annelise could see the arrow sticking from its neck.

Her father bent and pulled the arrow out, examining the tip. "Elves," he said throwing the arrow down in disgust.

Annelise turned sharply to look at Gandalf, realising where he must have been leading them. He looked back at her with the same sad look in his eyes that he had given her earlier, before nodding slightly so that only she would see it. She inhaled sharply and her father looked to her with a question in his eyes. She shook her head at him, reassuring him that she was fine. He glanced over her once to make sure she was not injured before nodding and turning to Dwalin as he came running back to the group.

"I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or no?"

"Follow it of course!" Bofur yelled back, heading to where Dwalin was standing.

The rest of the Company began moving as well.

"I think that would be wise," Gandalf said hanging back as Annelise had made no motion to follow. "Come, little one," he said, holding his elbow out for her to take.

She looked at him with a bit of fear in her eyes, knowing that this was the beginning of her own journey to discovering her past.

"We will do this together. For you are not the only one who fears the road ahead."

Annelise could see in his eyes that he was afraid of something as well, though she could not think what the great wizard would be afraid of where they were going.

With that thought, she placed her hand in the crook of his arm and he smiled down at her softly before following the Company.

Soon the pathway got too narrow for them to walk side by side so Gandalf urged Annelise to go ahead of him and she found herself directly behind Bilbo.

They continued walking and Annelise couldn't help but notice the feeling that had come over her suddenly. She could hardly describe it. She felt peace and joy and ... magic. That was the only way she could describe it. Magic.

She was looking up at the rock that rose above them to the sky and saw Bilbo doing the same.

"Gandalf. Where are we?" he asked suddenly and Annelise realised that he must being feeling it too.

"You can feel it?" the wizard asked, causing both Annelise and Bilbo to stop and look back at him.

"Yes. It feels like..."

"Magic," Annelise finished for him.

"That's exactly what it is," the wizard replied looking between the two standing in front of him. "A very powerful magic."

"There's light ahead," Dwalin said, breaking through the silence that had surrounded the three, before they began moving again.

Soon they broke out of the rock and Annelise saw a sight that she would never forget. A valley filled with trees and waterfalls more beautiful than she could have ever imagined. And among those trees and waterfalls sat an Elven kingdom that looked as though it had grown right out of the mountain.

She found her breathe stolen at the sight of the beautiful place and couldn't ignore the tugging feeling in her brain that said she knew this place. That this was her home. She moved to the front of the Company and looked out across the valley in front of her and breathed in the sweet air. She subconsciously grabbed her necklace out from under her scarf and held it in her hand.

She did not notice her father looking up at her sadly when he saw her reaction to the sight before them. He knew in his heart that their lives were about to change.

"The Valley of Imladris," Gandalf said suddenly, though his words did not interrupt Annelise's thoughts. "In the common tongue, it's known by another name."

"Rivendell," Bilbo said and Annelise found herself sighing when the word reached her ears.

"Here lies the Last Homely House East of the Sea." Gandalf continued and Annelise found that she could not stop the one word slipping from her lips as a whisper.

"Rivendell..."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 ****** Bold text ~ Elvish ******

* * *

Annelise's thoughts were quickly interrupted when her father suddenly moved from her side and approached Gandalf. She could tell from the way he was holding himself that he was not happy that the wizard had led them to a land full of elves. She followed after him, hoping that her presence might prevent her father from saying anything too bad to Gandalf.

"This was your plan all along. To seek refuge with our enemy," he whispered angrily so the others would not hear them. Gandalf seemed to have no such worry and replied with his usual booming voice.

"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield. The only ill will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself."

"You think the Elves will give our quest their blessing? They will try to stop us."

"Of course they will. But we have questions that need to be answered. More questions than you know," he said, looking toward Annelise as he finished speaking. She shifted uncomfortably under her father's gaze as he realised that wizard had directed his last words to his daughter.

"Annelise?" Thorin said quietly, knowing that his daughter was hiding something from him.

Before she could answer however, Gandalf continued speaking, capturing the Dwarf Prince's attention once more.

"If we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tact. And respect. And no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me."

With this, Gandalf turned and began leading the group on the path down the mountain and onto a bridge that went over one of the many waterfalls leading out of the valley. Annelise looked down at the water and admired how clear it was. Almost like liquid crystal. In parts that were being hit by the sun that was beginning its journey down, the water turned into flowing gold.

It was a sight she wanted to commit to memory but her eyes could not seem to decide where to look. Annelise noticed that Bilbo, who was walking in front of her, seemed to be having the same problem.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" she asked him, her voice filled with awe for her surroundings.

"More than I could have ever imagined."

Annelise looked ahead and realised that Gandalf was leading them to what seemed to be a platform for them to be received at.

She suddenly grew nervous at the prospect that she would be meeting people who knew who she really was and could tell her about her past.

As if sensing her sudden fear, Bilbo reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly with his smaller one as they continued walking. He did not let go until they came to a stop in the middle of the platform. She and Bilbo stood looking around them, soaking in the beauty of the home they had entered and the trees and statues surrounding them.

The valley and home were slowly turning golden in the setting sun. Bilbo looked over at Annelise and saw that her eyes were closed against the light but she had a contented smile on her face. As he studied her closer, he noticed the sun was bringing out bits of red and gold that he had never noticed in her hair before. He was suddenly struck with a strange thought. _'She is home.'_

Bilbo's thought were soon interrupted when a voice began speaking.

"Mithrandir," said the voice. Bilbo and the rest of the group turned to see an elf descending from a flight of stairs in front of them.

"Ah Lindir," the wizard said, greeting the elf.

After that they began speaking in Elvish and Bilbo could not follow anything they said.

Thorin looked to Annelise knowing she could understand at least a little of what was being said. She nodded her head reassuring him that all was well.

"I must speak with Lord Elrond," the wizard continued.

"My Lord Elrond is not here."

"Not here? Where is he?"

Before Lindir could answer, a horn sounded through the valley, the same horn that they had heard when the Orcs were attacked. Annelise saw Lindir shift his eyes behind Gandalf and knew that he had answered the wizard's question. Gandalf nodded slightly before slowly turning in the direction that they had just come from.

Annelise moved closer to Bilbo as a group of Elves on horseback began riding across the narrow bridge they had just crossed. Her father yelled out to the dwarves and Fili pushed Annelise and Bilbo into the middle of the cluster they formed as the Elves began circling around them.

Annelise was a little nervous until the Elves stopped circling and one the Elves broke from the circle and approached the wizard.

"Gandalf!"

"Lord Elrond!" the wizard responded and Annelise realised that this Elf was their host. Gandalf continued speaking in Elvish to the Lord, extending his hand out in greeting.

The Elven Lord responded before dismounting from his horse and moving to hug the wizard.

"Strange for Orcs to come so close to our borders," he continued lifting a sword that Annelise knew belonged to one of the Orcs that was slain before handing it off to Lindir, who looked at it in disgust.

"Ah. That may have been us," Gandalf said gesturing to the Company. Thorin moved out of their cluster toward the Elven Lord, followed by most of the others.

Annelise stayed back not wanting to draw any attention to herself yet, though she knew that would be impossible once the Elf looked closer at the Company. Already some of the other Elves that were still on horseback had glanced over at her, obviously wondering what a girl was doing in the company of so many dwarves.

"Welcome, Thorin, son of Thrain," Lord Elrond said, moving away from Gandalf toward the dwarf.

"I do not believe we have met."

"You have your grandfather's bearing. I knew Thror when he ruled under the mountain."

"Indeed? He made no mention of you," Thorin replied, and Annelise couldn't stop from rolling her eyes at her father's rudeness toward their host.

In response to Thorin's rather rude words, the Elf began speaking in Elvish once more. If Annelise had not been able to understand his words the little she could, she would have thought he was insulting her father.

"What is he saying? Does he offer us insult?" Gloin said, jumping to the conclusion Annelise expected them to come to.

"No, Master Gloin, he's offering you food," Gandalf said with exasperation.

The dwarves turned to council amongst themselves, as Annelise felt eyes on her. She turned to see Lord Elrond looking directly at her.

"And who might you be, my lady?"

Her father cut in before she could respond, "This would be my daughter, Annelise." He quickly moved to stand in front of her.

At her name, Annelise watched Lord Elrond's eyes shift down to her necklace that she had forgotten to tuck back under her scarf.

His eyes widened and he turned to look at Gandalf with confusion. "It can't be," he said quietly, turning to look back at the girl in front of him.

Gandalf sighed loudly before reaching out to Annelise, motioning for her to come forward. By then all eyes were on her as she reached and grabbed ahold of the wizard's hand as he pulled her forward.

Once she was closer, Lord Elrond reached out and touched her necklace, as if he didn't believe it was really there.

"How did you come by this jewel?" he asked. Annelise looked into his eyes and saw such sadness in them that she could not bear to look for very long.

She shifted her eyes to the ground before saying, "I was found with it."

Lord Elrond gasped and withdrew his hand as if he had been burnt. He continued to look at Annelise and she watched as the sadness in his eyes slowly gave way to a quiet anger.

"Gandalf. You told me she was dead."

He didn't shout. He didn't raise his voice, but Annelise found the forced calm of his voice to be more terrifying than if he had been yelling at her.

"I know, my friend. I did not want to, but I did as the Lady Galadriel wished of me."

Annelise realised then, what Gandalf had to fear coming to this place. Whatever had happened in her past, Gandalf had to make everyone who ever knew her believe that she was dead.

"For Durin's sake, will someone explain to me what is going on and why it involves my daughter?" Thorin said, finally fed up with listening to them talk.

Lord Elrond quickly looked at Lindir. "Lead the others of the company to where they will be lodging for the duration of their stay. I will take Gandalf, Thorin and Annelise to my study where we will work to get this mess sorted out."

With those words, he motioned to the three he had mentioned and began leading them away from the Company.

* * *

He led them to a large study that Annelise couldn't stop herself from looking around at, in awe of all the books and scrolls that filled it.

Lord Elrond smiled down at her in amusement before motioning for her to take a seat in one of the chairs that were near a large desk. He chose to stand by an opening that looked like it led out to a balcony, as Thorin moved to stand beside Annelise's chair. She noticed that Gandalf had decided to stand back near one of the many shelves of books on the opposite side of the room.

"Gandalf, what really happened?" Lord Elrond asked, finally breaking the silence that had settled over the four. Annelise looked toward him and saw how defeated he looked as he gazed over his home.

"I believe it might be best to start from the beginning as Annelise does not know anything before she came to live with Thorin."

At these words Lord Elrond nodded, moving to sit at his desk across from Annelise setting his head in his right hand as he leaned against the armrest.

Gandalf turned and began telling Annelise the story of her parents, Evelyn and Thorondil. He told her of the death of Arathorn, that caused his wife and child and her parents to leave their people, the Dunedain, and travel to Rivendell. He told her of the child Estel and her birth. She learned that the necklace she held so dear had been a parting gift from the Elf Lord that was currently sitting across from her.

When Gandalf spoke of her time with King Thranduil and his son Legolas, Annelise saw her father tense up. She knew of his anger toward the Elvenking and knew that the news of their closeness to his daughter, and that they grieved for her even now, disturbed him.

Lastly she learned of her parents death on the road from Mirkwood to Rohan to see her mother's kin.

Gandalf had to stop in his narrative to allow Annelise a moment to process the information and grief that her parents were gone. They had finally gotten to the part of the story that all the occupants in the room had been waiting for.

"After I had buried your parents and the Elven guards, I decided that I would bring you back to Rivendell or even raise you as my own, though I knew that that would not be necessary," Gandalf continued. "As I mounted my horse with Annelise still asleep against my chest, the Lady Galadriel began speaking to me. She told me that Annelise needed to be taken to Minas Tirith, to be left in the care of Thorin Oakenshield, with no knowledge of who she was or who I was. I argued with the Lady, telling her that I could not just leave her and allow everyone who loved her to think her dead. But she told me that it was Annelise's destiny to be the child of Thorin Oakenshield. Only the Lady's promise that I would see Annelise again allowed me to go through with what I had to do."

Gandalf then turned to Lord Elrond before continuing, "Giving her up was one of the hardest things I've even done, but it was nothing compared to delivering the news of her and her family's deaths. I traveled first to Rohan, to King Thengel to tell him the news of his sister and her family's death. I watched him grieve for her and for the niece that he never got to meet. I then traveled to Mirkwood and watched the light leave the Elvenking and the Prince's eyes at the news of the small child's death. They still grieve for her to this very day. I then had to return to Imladris and watch the grief consume Gilraen to an early grave, leaving her five year old son alone. I am sorry, my friend, for the grief that this deception has caused you, but know that it grieved me just as greatly."

With these words, Thorin seemed to have had enough and he stormed out of the study without a word. Annelise would have gone after him but she was too stunned to move.

"Why did you never tell me?" Annelise whispered quietly to Gandalf. "This entire time you've known everything about my past and you never said anything."

Gandalf came and knelt down near the girl, seeing her beginning to curl in on herself. "I knew that it was not the time for you to know."

Lord Elrond stood suddenly and moved gracefully over to Annelise's side. "Would you do me the honour of taking a walk with me, little one? There is something I would like you to see."

Annelise looked into the eyes of the elf Lord cautiously before nodded slightly, standing from her chair. Lord Elrond offered her his elbow as he began leading her out of his office.

"There are two places I would like to show you on our walk. The first is just down this hallway."

Annelise allowed Lord Elrond to direct her down the hallways of his home as she looked around at the many paintings and tapestries that adorned the walls. Soon they stopped before a door, and Lord Elrond motioned for her to open it.

She was greeted with the sight of a room that she did not know she remembered until she laid her eyes on it.

"My room..."

Annelise quickly moved over to the side of the bed that was in the middle of the room, to the table that was next to it. She sat on the side of the bed and looked at the things that lay on top of the table. She carefully reached out, picking a crystal figurine of a rose surrounded by flames. Although she could have only been one at the time, Annelise felt the memory of Gandalf making the trinket for her resurface in her head. She looked back into that memory and saw the small boy that could only be Estel.

"We left everything as it was. I could not bring myself to give this room to someone else. It is yours for your stay and for as long as you want it to be," Lord Elrond said, coming to sit next to her on her bed.

She looked up from the sculpture before saying, "Thank you, Uncle."

Elrond felt his eyes misting with tears upon hearing the name he never thought he'd hear again from the sweet little girl that had taken over the hearts of all Elves in Imladris.

"It is my pleasure, **little flame** ," Elrond said looking down at the young woman. "Come," he said suddenly. "We have one more place to go and then I'm sure you would like to have dinner and relax for the night."

Annelise hooked her hand back in Lord Elrond's arm and allowed him to lead her out of her room.

He shut the door behind them before leading them out an open doorway that led into a beautiful garden.

"Where are we going now?"

Lord Elrond looked down into her eyes for a moment sadly before answering her question.

"To your parents' graves."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 ******* Bold text ~ Elvish*******

* * *

The words the elf Lord spoke caused Annelise to look up in surprise.

"Once Gandalf came to us with news of their deaths, I organised for memorials to be made for them in your mother's favourite garden. There is one there for you as well," he added. "When the lady Gilraen was dying she requested that we buried her next to your stone so that she could be with you and your mother after death."

Annelise was quiet, thinking over all of the new information, before saying, "I remember the garden. Estel and I would play there while our mothers walked together. It's where I met Gandalf."

The more time Annelise spent in Rivendell, the more her memories seemed to be returning of the place, though many of them were too blurry for her to make sense of. She blamed that on the fact that she was only two at the time that she left Rivendell.

Annelise gasped quietly as they followed a curve in the path that led them into a clearing that she couldn't believe she'd ever forgotten about.

The path had rose bushes on each side and to her right the rose bushes broke off early leading into a small clearing surrounded by trees. In the middle of it was a large fountain with a gazebo behind it. Annelise smiled as she remembered splashing the water into Estel's face so many times as a child.

As she looked around the clearing she noticed three statues to her right that were new. She looked up at Lord Elrond and he sadly nodded.

Annelise took her hand from his arm and slowly moved toward the stones.

The largest one on the right had a statue of a man and a woman on the top. The man stood tall with his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his side. His left arm was wrapped around the waist of the woman, who was leaning into his side with her head rested on his shoulder and her hand laying on his chest above his heart. Annelise smiled at how happy and right the two looked together.

She could picture the dark hair of the man and his brown eyes looking out at the world in front of him. She moved her eyes to the woman's face and saw her mother in her memories. Her golden hair and tanned skin, the blue eyes that Annelise saw whenever she looked into the mirror.

She smiled at the thought that she knew now where her looks came from. Although her hair and skin held the qualities of her father, her eyes were a trait of her mother's.

Her eyes then moved to the smaller one in the middle. She gasped when she saw herself at the age of three. The small statue showed a small girl in a little dress with her right hand outstretched, the palm facing up. In the child's hand, rested a butterfly. The small girl's face was frozen in wonder and happiness and Annelise found herself smiling once more.

Lastly she looked to the statue on the left. She knew this was the grave of Estel's mother, Gilraen. Annelise reached out and touched the woman's face. She was kneeling, her head bowed and hair covered by a cloth. She looked as though she was praying.

Annelise couldn't stop the tear that escaped her eye at the thought of this woman. She had lost her husband, only to lose her dearest friends as well. She found herself crying for poor Estel who had lost everyone. She cried for her parents that she would never see again.

She felt Elrond pull her into his arms and start rubbing her back, speaking soothing words in Elvish to the weeping girl.

After a moment, her sobs stopped and she turned to the statues again. She gasped when she saw a single rose lying at the foot of her stone and looked up to Lord Elrond and asked him what it was.

"Estel was here seven days ago. He came to tell us that he was going to be away for quite some time in the North. He comes to visit his mother's grave every time he is here and likes to sit in front of yours and talk to you. Every visit, the morning he leaves he comes back and sets a single rose here. You were his best friend and he was your protector. He never has forgiven himself for not being there to protect you that night."

"He was only a child. He would not have made it either," Annelise protested even though there was not point.

"He knows that. He just had a hard time accepting that you were never coming back."

Annelise looked down at the rose thoughtfully before bending to pick it up. She wanted to take it to her room and dry it next to the figurine from Gandalf.

She looked at Lord Elrond before saying, "Thank you for bringing me here and telling me everything."

"Of course, little one. The joy it brings me to have you home again is more than I can express."

Annelise smiled to him and took his offered arm as they began making their way back indoors.

"If you don't mind, Uncle, I am rather exhausted by the events of today and everything I've learned. Would it be incredibly rude of me to ask to be excused from dinner so that I can rest and process everything I've learned?"

"Of course you can rest, my dear. I know this day has probably taken a lot out of you. I will escort you back to your room and inform Gandalf and Thorin that you are resting."

"Thank you, Uncle," Annelise said, as they had made it back to her room.

"Rest well, **little flame** ," he said, bending to press a kiss to the top of her forehead before she went into her room.

Annelise moved into her room and saw that a night dress had been laid across her bed. She moved to pick it up when there was a knock on the door.

She set the rose in her hand down by the crystal sculpture gently before moving to open the door and saw a beautiful Elf maid with long dark hair standing at the door. She recognised her almost immediately from her memories.

"Arwen?" she asked uncertainly, hoping that her memory was not wrong.

"Annelise!" Arwen said moving to embrace the young woman. "I couldn't believe it when Father told me you were still alive and in Rivendell no less. He sent me to arrange a bath for you and to help you prepare for bed.

Annalise pulled back and smiled at the woman who had been like a big sister to her when she was born. "A bath would be absolutely amazing. I cannot imagine how awful I must smell right now," she said chuckling at the woman in front of her.

"It's a good thing I already assumed you would say yes," Arwen said smiling before moving back to the door. "Please bring the water into the bathing room," she said to an elf standing just outside the door. The elf poured the warm water into the tub before grabbing his empty buckets and bowing to the ladies in the room and exiting.

"Come," Arwen said. "I'll take you clothes and have them mended and I can look at the wound on your shoulder while you clean up."

Annelise was a bit unsure about taking her clothes of in front of Arwen but the elf maid had already turned to give her some privacy. She quickly stripped of her weapons and handed her clothes to Arwen before moving to get in the tub.

She found herself sighing at the warmth of the water as it washed over her tired muscles. She had left her wound bandaged and once she had cleared her skin of the dirt and filth that covered her, she moved to unwrap it.

"Here, let me do that," Arwen said as she came back into the bathing room.

She knelt behind Annelise and began to take off the bandage. Once it was off, Annelise moved to cover herself as Arwen moved around to clean off her wound.

After applying some kind of healing ointment to the wound, Arwen grabbed a piece of athelas from the supplies she'd brought back with her and began crushing it in a bowl. The plant soon became like a paste and Arwen gently rubbed it on her wound, before grabbing clean bandages to wrap around the wound once more.

Arwen then moved behind Annelise and began washing her hair as she had many times when the woman was a child. Annelise found herself relaxing as the elf's hands massaged her head and her eyes slowly drifted closed. Arwen soon rinsed the soap from her hair.

The elf maid then moved to grab a large soft towel from near a mirror that had a small bowl filled with water for her to clean off her face. She held the towel up for Annelise as she stood from the bath and then wrapped it around herself. Arwen went back to return the medical supplies as Annelise moved to wash off her face and change into clean undergarments and her night gown.

Annelise found that the night gown went down to just above her ankles and flowed in the slight breeze that was coming in through the doors that led out to her balcony. She couldn't remember wearing anything so soft. She found a thin robe that she could wear if she got cold and she put it on with some slippers that she found before moving out to her balcony.

She stared out at the valley before her as she thought about everything she had learned that day. Not only had she learned about her past but she had found people who knew her and her parents. She still couldn't believe that her mother had been a princess in Rohan. She knew soon she would need to go to see her Uncle, King Thengel to let him know that she was alive.

She thought of the Elvenking that her father had spoken of so often in hate, and tried to reconcile that man with the one that lived in her memories. She hated to think that even now, he and his son were grieving for her. She well remembered the time spent with 'Ego as she'd called the Prince in the struggle to say his full name. Thranduil had been even more of a challenge and she could still remember the look on his face the first time she had called him 'Dil. Legolas had stood laughing with her for a few minutes after his father left them in her room.

She smiled at the happy memories going through her head, before she caught herself. She hadn't seen her father since he had stormed out of Lord Elrond's study. She began to worry that he might be upset about learning her past.

Before she could think any further on what she should do, Arwen returned and began turning the sheets on her bed down for her. Annelise sighed before pushing off the railing she was leaning on and moving back into her room. She took off her robe and slippers, leaving them on the chair next to her bed before climbing in.

Arwen pulled her sheets back up before brushing some of her damp hair off her forehead and bending to kiss her on top of her head. "I'm so happy you're home again. I missed you so much. **Sleep well, little one** ," she said before moving to close the curtains out to her balcony and blowing out the one candle in the room that was lit. She then moved to the door, stopping to look back at Annelise only to see that the young girl was already fast asleep.

She smiled to herself before turning and shutting the door.

 _'I wish there was some way for us to tell Estel that she is alive,_ ' she thought sadly as she moved to her own room in silence.

When Gilraen died, Arwen had taken it upon herself to raise the little boy Estel. She had to watch as he grieved for his mother and his best friend. As he got older, the grief was still there and Arwen did everything she could when he came back to visit to keep him happy. When she and her father told him the truth of his lineage two years before, Arwen was sure she would not be seeing him again for a long time. But on the anniversary of his mother's death the next year, he was there sitting across from the statue of the small girl, speaking to her as if she was still there.

Arwen could only hope that her adoptive son would be in contact soon so that she could tell him the wonderful news.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Annelise awoke the next morning to the sound of birds chirping while waterfalls rushed through the valley. At first she didn't know where she was but then she remembered everything that had happened the night before.

Suddenly her stomach growled and she heard a soft chuckle come from across the room. She looked up and saw Arwen standing in front of her wardrobe pulling out a long blue dress that seemed to match the colour of her eyes. Arwen quickly set the dress at the foot of her bed before moving over to sit on the side.

"Father wants you to join our family for breakfast this morning in his sitting room. Your companions are still sleeping so they will be eating breakfast later."

Annelise nodded before getting up and moving to the left side of her bed where her vanity and wardrobe were set up against the wall. She sat at the chair in front of the vanity and began brushing her hair.

Washing it the night before had made Annelise realise just how heavy it had gotten and she realised that it had gotten down to the top of her hips again. She could nearly sit on it.

She turned to Arwen and asked if she had any scissors she could use to cut her hair a bit.

"Oh yes I do! Would you like me to cut it for you?"

"Do you mind? It's starting to get a little too long."

"Of course! Just let me go grab them!"

Arwen returned a few minutes later with her scissors and after some instruction began trimming Annelise's hair so that it reached the small of her back. Long enough that she could braid it back, but short enough that it wasn't a nuisance.

When Arwen finished cutting it, she started braiding the sides of her hair back so that it would not get in her face while leaving the rest flowing freely. Annelise could not remember the last time she had worn her hair down but she found that she liked the feeling.

"Your clothes have been mended and washed. I've folded them and set them at the bottom of your wardrobe, along with a second set that you can carry with you."

Annelise smiled up at Arwen in thanks, before moving to the bed to put on the dress Arwen had laid out.

With a little help from Arwen, she finally had the dress on and moved to stand in front of the mirror. She had never worn anything so beautiful. The dress had a round neck that scoped down tastefully, not at all revealing. The sleeves were tight down to her elbows before they loosened a bit, ending at the middle of her forearms before flowing down. The skirt barely touched the floor. While the sleeves and bodice were a solid light blue, the skirt was different. The under skirt was the same blue, but the top layer of fabric was almost clear and was split in the front to show the colour underneath. She absolutely loved it.

She quickly turned to Arwen hugging her with a thank you before putting on the slippers that were given to her. She looked back at the mirror again and was surprised at how much she looked like an elf. If it wasn't for her ears, she would have thought she was.

She couldn't remember the last time she had worn a dress, let alone anything other than her boots. She found herself smiling at how comfortable she was, before turning and following Arwen to breakfast.

* * *

Breakfast was a rather joyful affair. Annelise sat on Lord Elrond left while Arwen sat on his right. Next to both of them sat the twins, Elladan and Elrohir.

When Annelise first saw them, she was taken back to her childhood when she was so mesmerised by the twins. When they had a chance, they had liked to do little tricks for the small child who loved to laugh.

When the twins saw Annelise enter the sitting room with Arwen, they both jumped and ran to hug her. She couldn't stop from laughing when Elladan picked her up from the ground and spun her around as he hugged her, only for Elrohir to do the same before she could even put her feet back on the ground. Once she was safely on land again, she turned and saw Lord Elrond smiling at the sight before him.

"I cannot find words to convey the joy I feel seeing you here with my family once more," he said finally, gesturing to the seat at his left.

They spent breakfast speaking of their lives since Annelise had been in Rivendell. Arwen spoke of raising Estel and Annelise could see how proud she was of the man who had become like a son to her. The twins spoke of their many pranks and adventures. Annelise told them of her life growing up with the dwarves. They were all very impressed to hear of everything she had learned, from swordplay to languages, archery and medicine.

* * *

Too soon, Elrond announced that he was needed by Gandalf to continue speaking of their journey. Arwen had duties she needed to fulfill, while the twins had to go help an elf named Glorfindel with patrol. Annelise decided to spend her day exploring, until Arwen was finished with her obligations.

She began wandering the halls and quickly happened upon Bilbo who seemed to be exploring as well.

"Hello Bilbo!"

"Oh Annelise! I didn't realise that was you at first. You look like an elf," he said chuckling before joining her at her side.

"Are you exploring as well?"

"Yes but I haven't found anything yet. Would you like to join me?

"I would love to join you, Mr. Baggins," Annelise replied happily, as she looked down at her companion.

As they explored, Annelise told Bilbo everything that she had learned the night before. To say the hobbit was shocked would be an understatement. He didn't know what to say for a few minutes after she finished speaking.

"What did your father have to say about all this?"

"He left before I could say anything to him," she responded sadly.

"You need to talk to him."

"I know. I just don't know where to start or what to say. I don't regret finding out everything. But that doesn't mean I don't love him any less. He will always be my father, even though I know who my real father is now."

"Just tell him that then. I'm sure he's just worried that he'll lose you now that you know who you are."

"I would never leave him. Especially not now."

"Don't worry. I'm sure everything will work out in the end."

"I'm sure you're right, Master Hobbit," she said thoughtfully, as they began to go up a small set of stairs.

They fell silent as they saw what was ahead of them.

"Isildur's blade," Annelise whispered in awe, looking at the large statue in front of them. Atop the cloth, lay the shards of Narsil and Annelise couldn't fight the draw to move closer to them. She was so close, she could see her reflection in the pieces. She turned to Bilbo and saw him staring at the masterpiece behind them.

A painting depicting the moment the King of Men faced down the Dark Lord, Sauron. The event that soon lead to the Fall of the Kingdom of Men.

Annelise moved closer to the painting and she looked intently at it. She could almost hear the sounds of war going on around her. She looked down at Isildur, holding his father's shattered sword in defiance as the Dark Lord held him weapon above his hand ready to strike. She could see the One Ring resting on his finger and couldn't fight the shudder that went through her at the sight of the ring.

They soon moved to continue on their exploration of the beautiful city. They crossed over bridges and under waterfalls. She showed the Hobbit her parents memorials and they sat on the edge of the fountain talking about the hobbit's parents and the few memories Annelise had of hers. They soon continued with their exploration before they found a balcony that looked over the entire valley.

They stopped to lean against the railing and Annelise watched in amusement as Bilbo reached his hands behind his head and took in a deep breath before relaxing next to her again.

"Not with your companions?" Lord Elrond asked, looking down at Bilbo.

"Uh, no, I shan't be missed," he said looking up at the elf lord as Annelise placed a hand on his shoulder at his statement. "The truth is that most of them don't think I should be on this journey."

"Well then most of them are wrong," Annelise said squeezing the Hobbit's shoulder. Bilbo looked up at her, smiling in appreciation of her statement.

"Indeed? I've heard that Hobbits are very resilient," Lord Elrond responded.

Bilbo chuckled, thinking it was a joke, before looking back up at the elf. "Really?"

"Mm," he nodded while looking down at the small creature in front of him. "I've also heard they're fond of the comforts of home."

"I've heard that it's unwise to seek the council of Elves. That they will answer with yes and no," Bilbo said quietly, before he stopped worried that he'd offended the elf in front of him. Annelise saw Elrond's face change to one of amusement and Bilbo let out a bit of a relieved chuckle.

Elrond began turning to leave before he looked down at the Hobbit placing his hand on his shoulder, "You are very welcome to stay here, if that is your wish. The same goes for you, my dear." He directed his last words to Annelise before he walked back inside, leaving the two to consider his words.

* * *

Annelise soon left the hobbit's side to search for her father. She knew the longer she waited to talk to him, the harder it would be.

She found him sitting alone in the area they were staying in during the time in Rivendell.

"Where are the others?" she asked, startling him from his thoughts.

"Swimming I think," he said, avoiding look at her.

"Father look at me, please," she pleaded and he slowly turned to her.

She knelt down and sat by his knee as he sat on his bed and took his hands that were sitting in his lap.

"I know that things have changed and that the knowledge of my past is not an easy thing to learn but it doesn't not change the fact that you are my father and that I am your daughter. I'm not going anywhere. I made you a promise that I would stay with you no matter what and I have no plans to break that promise."

She felt his hand move to her head and she looked up into his face. She knew then that everything would be alright between them, even if things had changed.

"You have been my pride and joy since the day you came to me. I couldn't love you more if you were my own flesh and blood. Your past may be hard for me to accept, but it does not change that you are my daughter."

He smiled down at her before moving his hand back to his lap. "Go," he said quietly. "We will not be here much longer and you should be exploring the place you were born."

She knew how much it pained him to say that but she did as she was told. She stood and kissed his cheek before going to find Arwen.

Instead of finding Arwen, she came across Elrond once again.

"Annelise, I was just looking for you. There is someone here that I would like for you to meet."

"Of course. Lead the way."

Elrond offered her his arm and he led her out of the main house and up a pathway that led to what looked to be a round council room.

"Who am I meeting, Uncle?"

"You remember Gandalf speaking of the Lady Galadriel, do you not?"

"Yes, she told him to take me to Gondor."

"Yes. The Lady Galadriel rules Lothlorien along with her husband, Lord Celeborn. They are my children's grandparents."

"And she is here to see me?"

"Not originally but she wanted to meet you when she heard you were here."

Before Annelise could respond she heard a woman speak into her mind.

 _'And so the Jewel of Men has returned home.'_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 _'And so the Jewel of Men has returned home.'_

Annalise looked up from her Uncle and met a pair of the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Once she was able to break her gaze, she saw that the eyes belonged to a beautiful elf that she could only describe as ethereal.

The woman smiled down at the young girl gently, before Lord Elrond placed his hand on Annelise's lower back and pushed her towards the elf in front of her.

"Annelise, this is the Lady Galadriel, my wife's mother and ruler of the Golden Wood."

Upon realizing that this was the woman she was there to meet, Annelise quickly dropped into a deep curtsy before the Elven Lady.

She heard fabric brushing across the ground quietly before feeling a smooth hand lift up her chin.

"Stand, my child," Lady Galadriel said softly, raising Annelise's eyes up to meet hers once more.

"It is truly an honor to meet you, my lady."

"Ah but the honor is mine. Long have I desired to meet the woman who carries such a great destiny upon her shoulders,' the lady answered back with a sparkle of interest in her eyes.

"You were the one who told Gandalf to bring me to Thorin?"

"I saw what you would become if you were to return to Rivendell, and although it was a happy life, the future would have been very different from what it is now," she answered calmly, though Annelise could detect a hint of sadness in her tone.

"That's why no one could know I was alive? Because they would have come to get me and taken me away from my father."

"Yes, dear one. Thorin Oakenshield needed you to keep his hope alive. And your hope will be much needed on this quest he has chosen to pursue. Your journey will not be an easy one and you will be faced with much grief before your true journey is finally completed."

"It sounds as though you speak of more than just this journey to the Lonely Mountain. Why is that?" Annelise asked, a bit confused by the lady's words.

"Although this quest will pose its own challenges, I fear that this journey is setting things in motion that will change the course of our future and bring about the fulfillment of the destiny that I can see surrounding you even now."

"You keep speaking of my destiny. And why is it that my being with Thorin changed the future? I am not that important. I haven't done any great deeds or fought in any battles," Annelise said softly, bowing her head a bit to look down at her feet. She felt her uncle move to rest his hand on her shoulder softly. With this touch, she glanced hesitantly into the eyes of Lord Elrond before he began to speak softly to her.

"You are more important than you think. Sometimes the most influential thing a person can do is simply bring hope. Deeds are not the only things that can impact the future. The lives that you have and will come into contact with are impacted by the hope and kindness that you naturally pour out. Never underestimate the power of a kind word and how the faith you have in a person can give them power as well."

Annelise looked between her uncle and the lady before her, and then nodded slightly to herself accepting the words that her uncle had spoken.

"You have grown into a strong and beautiful woman and this journey will cause you to grow even more," Lady Galadriel said suddenly, drawing Annelise's attention back to her. "The path set before you is full of trials and you will carry a large burden before the end of it."

"I know that you wish to stay with your father, so I will not ask that you remain here in Imladris," Lord Elrond continued. "Therefore I will leave you with one bit of advice that I hope will bring you peace during the hard times you will soon face."

"Those we love are never truly gone. They live on in the lives of the people whose hearts they have touched. Also you should know that your parents loved you very much. You were the light of their lives. Burning as brightly as the morning sunrise that you were born under. You have grown to be so strong, in your soul and your body, just as your father was. But you also have your mother's kindness and gentle heart. Both will serve you well in the trials that you will soon face."

"But know that should you require it, your room will always be ready for you here. You may show up in the middle of the night if you wish. You will always be welcome in my home, for it is your home also."

Annelise fought hard to keep her tears at bay, as she suddenly threw her arms around the elf who had been like a second father to her when she was young and was quickly becoming that again.

"I could not bear to stay here safe while my family continues on into danger. And I promised myself that no matter what, I would be there to watch over Bilbo Baggins. I have grown very fond of him."

"Ah yes, the Hobbit," Lord Elrond said smiling slightly to himself. "He is certainly an interesting addition to your company. But I sense that he has a great deal more to offer than he knows now."

Annelise started to speak, before a large yawn suddenly escaped from her mouth.

Lord Elrond quickly turned to her with a concerned look on his face.

"Go. Rest before dinner. I would like you to join Gandalf and my family for a small private dinner tonight in my sitting room once again."

Annelise nodded and smiled up at her Uncle and curtsied to the Lady Galadriel once more before heading back in the direction of her room.

* * *

Lady Galadriel watched the young woman descend the stairs before turning once more to Lord Elrond.

"It seems unfair that she will carry so much grief soon."

"She will face many hardships but she will come out stronger because of them. And she will not have to carry that burden alone. I have seen the future that awaits her, and though there is a great deal of loss and grief, there is even more love and happiness. You know this better than I."

"That is true, but so much of her future remains hidden, shrouded in shadows. We can only ask that the Valar will guide her steps and grant her the strength to overcome the obstacles set before her," the Lady Galadriel finished, looking into the distance, following the retreating figure of the young woman making her way back into the house.

* * *

Once Annelise made it back to her room, she laid back against the pillows stacked on her bed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment.

She then turned onto her side and saw the rose that she had set on her bedside table the night before. She picked it up and breathed in its scent deeply before standing and grabbing a book off of her vanity. She opening the book and slipped the rose carefully between the pages before gently closing the book to preserve the flower.

Once she set the book back down on the table next to her bed, she moved to lay back on her bed again. Her thoughts soon turned to the young man who had left the flower at her memorial statue.

' _Poor Estel,'_ she thought to herself. _'First he lost his father, and then so soon he lost his mother as well. If I had been brought back here, she might still be alive.'_

" _No!,'_ Annelise scolded herself. _'Do not blame yourself for the past. You had no control over it. And things were supposed to be this way. I only wish Estel knew I was alive all that time. To still be visiting my grave after all this time, he must be so alone_.'

Annelise looked back into her memories of the small boy that had taken such care in watching over her. She could vaguely remember how he would follow her so closely when she first began walking, watching her every step and jumping in to catch her before she could fall.

Annelise quickly jumped up and moved over to sit at her vanity. Arwen had left a few sheets of parchment and a quill there the night before, though at the time Annelise had not understood why. Now she was very grateful that the elleth had.

She quickly grabbed up a sheet and the quill and wrote down a small note.

 _Estel,_

 _I do not know when you might receive this note, if you receive it at all, but I feel like I should write it anyways._

 _It's me, Annelise. I'm sitting in my room in Imladris after discovering the truth of who I truly am. I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry for the pain that my supposed death might have caused you. To lose your mother at such a young age so soon after losing your father must have been so difficult and I am sorry for the part I might have played in it._

 _I pray that someday soon I can see you again. I can still remember the small boy that took such good care of me when I was so small. I do not know if I ever told you then, but thank you for being my hero and protector._

 _Arwen said she was afraid that you would not be returning here soon, and I can only imagine what must have happened to hurt you so much that you would leave your home. Arwen worries for you. I can see it every time she mentions you, which is often. She loves you and is so proud of the man you have become. I know she is not your true mother but I do not think she could love you anymore if she was._

 _I imagine that I will be leaving this beautiful place soon to continue the journey I have started with my father. I will leave this note in the care of Uncle Elrond to be given to you when next you visit this place. I hope we shall finally meet again soon, my friend. There are so many questions I want to ask you and things I would like to tell you._

 _Until we meet again,_

 _Annelise_

Once she finished writing, Annelise set the letter aside so the ink could dry before sealing it with wax and writing Estel on the back. She then set it back on her vanity, before moving to her bed once more and quickly falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Annelise. Annelise, wake up," a soft said quietly while a hand gently nudged the young woman's shoulder. Annelise opened her eyes slowly before turning onto her back and looking in the direction of the voice. She smiled slightly when she saw the face of Arwen looking down at her, before rubbing her eyes softly.

"It is time for dinner, **little one**. Father feared you would not be awake yet from your rest."

"Oh yes, of course," Annelise said as she suddenly remembered, and quickly jumped off her bed and straightened her dress and hair. She then moved to follow Arwen out the door, before suddenly remembering the letter she had set on her bedside table. She turned back and grabbed the letter before leaving the room.

"Arwen, could I ask a favor of you?"

"Of course. You know that I will do anything I can for you if it is in my power."

"I wrote this letter this afternoon,' she said holding the letter out to the elf maid walking beside her. "It is for Estel. I was hoping you could give it to him when he is here next, as I am sure you will see him long before I will...if I ever do." This last sentence, Annelise said quietly to herself, thinking the woman next to her would not be able to hear her.

"You will see him again. Once he knows you are alive, I would not be surprised if he sets off looking for you the moment he finds out," the elleth replied, with a fond smile on her face as she thought of the young man who was like a son to her.

Knowing that his sorrow would be lessened, even just a little, with the knowledge that his childhood friend was alive, brought a joy to her heart she had not felt since he had left Imladris so suddenly two years ago.

* * *

Dinner that night was much the same as breakfast had been, with the exception of their additional guest.

Annelise greatly enjoyed watching the wizard interacting with the twins, as they told stories of their latest adventures and schemes.

She particularly enjoyed the stories the wizard told of his journeys, though she knew that he was not telling every detail. When she learned of his fireworks from Elladan, she soon procured a promise from the wizard to one day show them to her.

All too soon Lord Elrond and Gandalf stood from the table, with her Uncle saying that they had some important business to discuss.

"You should go and visit your father and cousins tonight, once you are done visiting with this fine company," Gandalf said to Annelise suddenly, gesturing to Arwen and her brothers, just before he left the room behind her Uncle.

Annelise continued talking to her new family, listening to stories from their childhoods and hearing stories from Arwen about raising Estel. Annelise happened to gaze out toward one of the balconies outside of the room and realized that the sun had set long ago and she had not gone to see her father, as Gandalf had suggested.

She quickly excused herself and bid Arwen, Elrohir and Elladan goodnight, before walking toward where her father and the rest of the Company were staying.

She had been expecting most of them to be asleep, but the sight that she found was the exact opposite.

All of the dwarves and Bilbo were huddled in a circle out on the balcony of their room, whispering quietly to each other frantically.

Annelise cautiously walked over to them, not wanting to startle them as they looked quite engrossed in whatever it was they were speaking about.

Thorin was facing the opening that Annelise had walked through and noticed her enter. He quickly waved her over to join the group and she moved to sit on a chair next to him that Dwalin had vacated for her.

"What is going on Father?"

"We must leave tonight. The Elf Lord thinks we plan to leave in two days and he will try to stop us. Gandalf has suggested that we leave in the morning, before the sun rises and before anyone in the valley will be waking up."

"Very well," Annelise said quietly, a little sad that her time with these people would be cut short so quickly. But she knew that she needed to be with her father, and that she would be able to return an visit once their mission was completed.

Thorin looked up at his daughter sadly, knowing that a part of her wanted to stay. He decided to be selfish and not say anything to her about it, afraid that she would change her mind about continuing with him.

"Go and get some rest. Either I or one of your cousins will come in the morning to bring you to our meeting place."

Annelise nodded before standing and kissing the top of her father's head and biding the rest of the group goodnight.

She saw that Bilbo had moved away from the others since she had arrived and was standing at the far end of the balcony looking out across the valley.

The waterfalls and white buildings shone brightly in the light of the moon and stars overhead, and Annelise found her breath stolen once again by the sight before her.

"It seems a pity to have to leave such a beautiful and peaceful place," the Hobbit said quietly, as though trying not to disturb the quiet that was surrounding them.

"Yes, but we will be back," she said moving her hand to his shoulder and looking down at him with a smile.

"Yes. Yes I do believe we will be."

With these words, Annelise quickly pulled the small Hobbit into a loose hug.

"Goodnight, Bilbo Baggins," she said fondly, squeezing his shoulder before turning and walking back in the direction of her room.

* * *

Once back in the privacy of her own room, Annelise let out a few tears that she had been holding back at the thought of leaving the only place she knew that had any ties to her parents.

She allowed herself a few minutes to be upset about that fact, before pushing those feelings away and allowing the determination to be there for her father to fill her instead.

She moved to the wardrobe against the wall and grabbed her travel bag out of it. She packed the outfit she had been wearing when she arrive, and laid the new one from Arwen out by the bag, before packing her other supplies into it as well.

She then moved to her weapons and checked that they were all cleaned and sharpened before placing them where they would be easy to grab in the morning while also not alerting Arwen to the fact that she was preparing to leave, if the elf happened to visit again before she went to bed.

Annelise had just finished putting all of her things in place when there was a knock at her door. Her intuition was proved correct when she saw that it was Arwen standing at her door.

"I just thought I would stop by and tell you goodnight before you went to sleep," she said pulling the young woman into a tight hug.

"Goodnight Arwen. Thank you for taking such good care of me," Annelise said, hugging the elf maid back even tighter.

"It has been my genuine pleasure. Knowing that you are alive and here in my arms right now, brings me a happiness that I cannot put into words. I know that I keep saying this, but I cannot wait until my son finds out you are alive."

With these words, Arwen pulled away and kissed Annelise softly on the forehead, before saying goodnight and turned back around and going to her room.

Annelise suddenly felt guilty that she would be leaving without truly saying goodbye to her newest family members. She turned back to her room, shutting her door, and sat a her vanity to write a letter for the second time that day.

She wrote one for her Uncle and Arwen, as well as one for both of the twins. She told them all how much she loved them and that she would be back again soon. She also told them that, although she would have liked to stay, she needed to be with her father and be there for the Company as they continued this journey.

She set the four letters on her bedside table, where she knew Arwen would find them in the morning once she realized that she was gone.

Annelise then moved and washed her hair, knowing that it would be awhile before she could wash it again properly, and braided it. She then slipped on her leggings and undershirt, knowing that she would be comfortable enough to sleep and that it would  
help in the morning when she had to get dressed.

She checked her bag and weapon one last time, before finally laying back on her bed under the sheets and succumbed to the call for sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Annelise! Annelise, you need to get up! Uncle is waiting for us!" a voice whispered loudly, while a hand shook her shoulder softly but firm.

Annelise blinked her eyes before rubbing them and looking towards the voice on her right side. She saw that it was Kili speaking to her, while Fili had his hand laying gently on her shoulder still.

"I have your bag already. You just need to get dressed and grab your weapons," Fili whispered to her softly, raising up his other hand that was holding her pack.

Nodding quickly, Annelise jumped up and threw on her long tunic over her undershirt before grabbing her leather jerkin and cloak. Kili handed over her quiver and belt after she slipped on her boots.

Giving one last quick glance around her room to make sure she had everything, she moved toward the door following behind her cousins.

She stopped one last time before she shut the door behind her to look into the room that had so quickly become home to her. She saw the letters she had written still lying on the small bedside table, next to the book containing the pressed rose from Estel.

Suddenly a wave of sadness washed over Annelise as she thought of the people she would be leaving behind. She was not naive enough to think that the road ahead of her would be easy and she knew that there was a chance that she may not make it back to this beautiful valley again.

She regretted then, more than ever, not being able to say a true goodbye to the family that she had found again after so long.

But as she looked over her left shoulder to see her cousins smiling and waving for her to follow them, she knew that she was making the right decision.

And so, with one final glance, Annelise shut the door to her bedroom and grabbed the hand that Fili was holding out to her, taking the first of many steps that would lead her on a road she never would have expected to find herself on. And she didn't look back.

* * *

Annelise and her cousins soon joined the others, seeing that they were the last to arrive.

She walked over and stood next to her father, who was speaking quietly with Balin, and looked over the valley that stretched out before her. The sky was just beginning to lighten as the sun began to slowly make its way over the mountains that surrounded them.

"You are going to miss this place," Thorin said suddenly, having finished his conversation with Balin and turning to see his daughter gazing sadly at the place she had been born a little over twenty-five years before.

Annelise quickly turned to look down at her father before replying.

"Yes... I will. The more time I spent here, the more things I could remember. Playing with my mother in the gardens, riding on my father's shoulders as we walked through the halls, laughing with Estel."

She turned then to look down at Thorin and saw that his troubled face and continued on quickly.

"But, I would not trade going on this journey with you for a hundred more days here. I want to be there when you see Erebor again, when you reclaim your homeland."

Thorin looked up at his daughter with tears in his eyes. At her words, all of the fears and doubts that he had begun to have upon learning of Annelise's connection to these Elves and their home disappeared.

"Words cannot express how much I love you. I do not know what trials await us on our journey, but I am comforted by the thought that you will remain by my side."

"I love you, Father," Annelise said, leaning down to hug Thorin tightly and kissing his check before she pulled away.

Annelise soon moved to stand next to Bilbo as the Company set off on the path out of Rivendell. They quickly fell to the back of the group, as if hesitant to leave the beautiful place for fear of the unknown wilds that were ahead of them.

* * *

As they reached the pass that would lead them out of the valley, Bilbo and Annelise stopped for a moment to look back down on the city that was slowly being illuminated by the rising sun coming over the top of the mountains.

"Be on your guard," Thorin said loudly from the front of the line. "We are about to step over the edge of the wild. Balin, you know these paths. Lead on."

Annelise turned away to follow the Company, while Bilbo stood back for a moment longer. She knew that the hobbit would have been very content to stay in the elven city. She gently laid her hand on his shoulder and nodded her head over her shoulder when he looked up at her.

"Don't worry. We'll see this place again," she said smiling down at him softly, guessing the thoughts that were running through his head.

"Yes, I do believe that we will."

"Master Baggins, I suggest you keep up," Thorin yelled back from ahead.

Annelise shook her head in disapproval of how her father treated the halfling and she heard Bilbo sigh loudly before they both turned to continue following the path toward the Misty Mountains in the east.

* * *

The journey was long and without Gandalf there, Annelise found herself spending most of the days that followed walking with Bilbo. She learned of the places he explored while in Rivendell and of his many relations in Hobbiton. She was very interested in learning about the lives of Hobbits, and couldn't help but compare them with her own. She in turn told him all that she had learned from Lord Elrond and his children about her past. When she was sure no one in the Company would overhear them, she would speak of her wishes to spend more time with her new found family so that she could learn more about her parents. She also talked of her desire to find Estel, wherever he was.

On occasion, they would exchange riddles with each other and Annelise began teaching Bilbo Sindarin to pass the time. When the company would stop for meals and water, Annelise would sketch her surroundings with the paper that Arwen had supplied her with in Rivendell. She even convinced the hobbit to allow her to draw a portrait of him on one of their longer breaks. She made sure the wrap the pages up securely in the leather cloth Arwen had provided to prevent them from getting wet.

Upon reaching the pass that they would take over the Mountains, Annelise was very glad for the leather bindings, as a huge thunderstorm rained down on them heavily as they got deeper into the mountains.

The path through the mountains were very narrow and Annelise found herself clinging to the side so that she would not fall off. She made sure that Bilbo stayed in front of her and reached out to steady him when he seemed to slip. She could feel Dwalin behind her and noticed his hand grabbing onto her bag every time she reached out to steady the hobbit.

"Steady! Hold on!" she heard her father yell from his position leading the group.

Suddenly Bilbo slipped again and nearly plummeted face first down the side of the mountain. She and Bofur reached out quickly to catch him and she felt Dwalin holding onto her tightly to keep her from falling down after the hobbit.

"We need to find shelter," her father yelled after they had all gained their footing once more.

"Look out!" Dwalin yelled suddenly from beside Annelise. She and the others looked in the direction he was facing, and saw a huge boulder flying through the air towards the top of the rocks right above them.

At the collision, rock began showering down on the Company and Annelise pushed herself and Bilbo back against the rocks as far as she could to avoid getting hit by the larger ones. She could here the others yelling around her to each other while trying to avoid the rocks themselves.

"This is no thunderstorm! It's a thunder-battle!" Balin yelled from the front of the group. "Look!"

The Company turned in the direction he was pointing to see a great giant made of stone. It was grabbing onto the top of the mountain, pulling off a large portion of it before throwing it at another giant that was behind them.

"Well, bless me," Bofur said, stepping up further. "The legends are true! Giants! Stone-giants!"

"Take cover, you fool!" Thorin yelled back to Bofur as rocks began raining down on them once more.

"Bilbo, come on!" Annelise yelled, pulling the hobbit back further against the wall as the rocks that were falling began hitting the edge of their path, making it even narrower.

Suddenly the Company began feeling the rocks beneath their feet start moving. Annelise feared for a moment that the path would fall out from underneath them before she realized that they were being pulled apart from the rest of the group. She looked up to see that they were standing on the legs of a third giant and that her father and Kili were on the other leg.

"Fili, grab my hand!" she heard Kili yelling before they were completely separated.

"No, Annelise!" yelled Thorin while Fili cried out his brother's name.

Suddenly the giant that they were standing on was head butted by another and rocks began falling on them as they tried to maintain their grips while the legs moved as the giant fell back.

She saw that her father and the others were able to jump onto a part of the path that was not connected to a giant and she breathed a sigh of relief before remembering that she and her part of the Company were still in danger.

The three giants soon began engaging in battle. Everything passed so quickly, and Annelise soon found herself facing the path her father was on and moving quickly passed them as the giant they were on began falling. She saw the side of the mountain begin racing toward them and she knew they were going to hit it.

She turned and saw Fili looking at her in fear and reached out to grab his hand as the mountain got closer.

"No!" she could hear someone yelling as they smashed into the rock. The impact left her winded and covered in rocks, but she was relieved to find that somehow, other than a few cuts and what was sure to be some really bad bruises, she was unharmed.

She glanced around at the dwarves surrounding her and saw that they were in the same condition.

Her father soon rounded the corner of the path, and took a deep breath of relief at seeing them alive.

"It's alright! They're alive," Gloin yelled to those behind them. Fili came from behind Annelise and helped her stand up and she was greeted by a tight hug from her father as soon as she regained her balance.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," he said softly before releasing her. She quickly found herself in the same position with Kili, instead of her father.

"Where's Bilbo? Where's the Hobbit?" Bofur asked frantically, causing the rest of the Company to look around quickly.

"There!" Annelise yelled, seeing the hobbit's hands hanging off the side of the cliff near Bofur and Ori.

"Get him," Dwalin yelled, as Bofur and Ori dove down to try and grab onto him.

"Grab my hand!"

"Bilbo!"

"Stay here," Thorin said sternly to Annelise, holding her back from trying to lean over the edge to grab the hobbit.

She watched as he swung over the ledge, holding on with one hand, using the other to lift up the halfling. Just as he was safely back on the path, Annelise's heart stopped in her chest. Her father's hand had slipped.

Thankfully Dwalin caught his other arm and Annelise laid down on her stomach next to the tough dwarf and helped him pull her father up to safety, before hugging him tightly as he had done to her just moments before.

"I thought we lost our burglar," Dwalin said once everyone was safely on their feet.

"He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come. He has no place amongst us," Thorin said angrily, walking forward on their path.

"Father," Annelise began to protest, but he ignored her.

"Dwalin!"

* * *

Annelise was very relieved when they were able to find a cave to take shelter in to get out of the rain.

"It looks safe enough," Dwalin said looking around the cave.

"Search to the back. Caves in the mountains are seldom unoccupied."

"There's nothing here," Dwalin said from the back of the cave, and the others let some of the tension go from their bodies and began setting up a small camp.

"Right, then. Let's get a fire started," Gloin said, throwing down wood from his pack.

"No. No fires. Not in this place," Thorin ordered. "Get some sleep. We start at first light."

"We were to wait in the mountains until Gandalf joined us. That was the plan," Balin said, protesting Thorin's orders.

"Plans change. Bofur, take the first watch."

"Right, okay," he said moving to take a spot close to the entrance.

"I'll sit with you for a little while," Annelise said, not feeling tired yet after the rush she had gotten from nearly being smashed by fighting rock giants.

"Thanks, lass," Bofur said smiling up at Annelise gratefully.

* * *

Bofur and Annelise spent most of their watch speaking quietly to each other about their journey. Annelise asked him what he thought of the hobbit that had joined them and was happy to find that his opinion was very similar to her own.

She was saddened however, when after a while she looked up to see Bilbo moving quietly towards them with his things packed on his back, carrying his walking stick in his hands. She knew then just how much the words her father had spoken had gotten to him. He didn't notice them watching him until Bofur finally spoke up quietly.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to Rivendell."

"No, no, you can't turn back now, eh?" Bofur said. He and Annelise stood up, moving over to Bilbo and further away from the others, so that they wouldn't disturb them.

Annelise, however, continued out to the opening of the cave, knowing that it would be best for Bofur to try and convince him to stay first.

She looked out into the rain and was glad to see that it was letting up a bit. She looked up and saw that there were a few places where she could see the stars and moon shining through the storm clouds and she smiled a little.

She could hear voices from the cave but could not make out the words. She decided that if Bofur was unable to convince Bilbo to stay, she would try herself.

Suddenly she heard her father yelling. "Wake up! Wake up!"

She turned back to look into the cave and saw the floor fall open quickly, taking her father and the rest of the Company with it. Before she had a chance to run in after them, the floor shut itself up once more.

"No! Father! Fili, Kili! Bilbo!" she yelled pounding the ground, trying to get it to open once more.

"What do I do now?" she said thinking aloud, talking to the air around her. "I don't know where they've gone or how to get to them. I could continue in the path that we were following but I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go. I guess I could just wait for Gandalf like we had planned to do before. But what happened to the others? Who took them? How could they have known we were even here? Unless..."

Annelise trailed off realizing that there may in fact be another way into the cave. She quickly pulled out her twin blades, becoming extremely cautious as the thought crossed her mind that whoever had taken her companions might come into the cave to make sure that no one had escaped the trap.

Her thoughts were soon proven correct when the sound of goblins approaching reached her ears. She was especially worried when she realized that the sounds were coming from the back of the cave.

' _That's impossible. Dwalin checked and said there was no way in from the back,_ ' she thought to herself.

All too soon, she found herself face to face with at least five goblins and she could see that there were even more behind them waiting to enter the small cave.

As soon as the first goblin saw her, it began running toward her. She quickly moved her right blade to block its' approach, before decapitating the goblin and moving to the next. She spun her body to the left, dodging the blade of another, before slashing it deeply across the stomach.

She soon found herself surrounded by three more goblins and was nearly overwhelmed when they attacked at the same time. She managed to dodge two of them, while stabbing the third in the chest, only to have it be replaced by another. After cutting down three more goblins, Annelise was knocked to the ground by a strong hit to the back of her head. Shacking her head to clear it as she fell, she rolled out of the way of an axe, taking down another goblin as she spun.

After the blow to her head, Annelise knew that she would not be able to last much longer. Especially if more goblins kept coming. She cut down three more and was happy to see that there were only eight left. She was glad that they didn't feel the need to send more than fifteen to scout out their trap, and prayed that she would be able to get through the skirmish. She had fought against much worse odds before, but that was always with her father or her cousins by her side.

She cut down two more goblins before a blow to the back of her left leg sent her to her knees. The remaining six goblins quickly surrounded her in the small space of the cave and Annelise knew that it would take a miracle for her to get out of that position unscathed.

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, a bright white light shown throughout the cave and Annelise had to cover her eyes. She could hear the goblins around her screeching in pain and heard a voice that she had never been more glad to hear in her life.

"Stand up, Annelise. Your battle is not over yet," came the words from the wise wizard that she had been hoping to find.

Annelise quickly jumped up, spinning her blades around in each hand, before jumping back into the fight with Gandalf by her side. The goblins were soon taken care of and Annelise looked over at the wizard standing at her side.

"You have impeccable timing, Gandalf," she said chuckling slightly.

The wizard smiled down at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eye before turning and looking at their surroundings. He walked to the back of the cave and looked at the small opening the goblins had used to enter the cave.

"I'm not surprised that Dwalin missed this opening. It is so small and is hidden quite well," Annelise said, speaking mostly to herself.

"This will lead us to the others. Be on your guard. There are many more goblins in Moria than the few that we just encountered. They will have your father and the others well protected."

"What are we going to do?"

"We, my dear, are going to save them."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Annelise followed closely behind Gandalf as they passed through the entrance at the back of the cave.

"Grab onto the back of my robes, Annelise, and stay close," he said quietly over his shoulder before muttering what sound like a spell under his breath.

"Are we invisible?" Annelise asked, realizing what the spell must have meant.

"Yes," the wizard replied quickly raising a finger to his mouth, signaling her to keep quiet, before moving out of the shadows.

Almost instantly, they were surrounded by goblins and forced to move along with the crowd. Annelise pushed herself even closer to Gandalf's back, hoping to avoid touching any of the disgusting creatures.

* * *

When Gandalf finally stopped, Annelise peeked around the wizard to see that they were on a platform surrounded by goblins. They all seemed to be focused on a large goblin with a crown on his head standing in front of a throne. Annelise could only assume that he was the Goblin-King.

Annelise could just make out the heads of her companions standing in front of the giant goblin. She could hear one of them talking, but could not make out the words.

"Shut up!" she heard the King yell suddenly. "If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring up the mangler! Bring up the bone breaker! Start with the youngest!" Annelise could only assumed that the King was pointing at Ori as he said this last part.

"Gandalf..." Annelise whispered in despair.

"Wait!" she heard her father yell from the middle of the group. At this, everything went quiet as the crowd began to part and Annelise was finally able to See the entire Company.

"Well, well, well...look who it is," the Goblin-King said as Thorin moved to stand before him. "Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain."

These last words were said mockingly, as the Goblin-King bowed lowly.

"Oh, but I'm forgetting - you don't have a mountain, and you're not a king, which makes you nobody, really." Snickers ran through the goblin ranks at this statement.

The Goblin-King suddenly turned thoughtful for a moment. "I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just a head. Nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak. An old enemy of yours. A pale orc, astride a white warg."

"No," Annelise gasped under her breath. Gandalf quickly reached back and grabbed onto her hand, both signaling for her to stay quiet and to comfort her at this revelation.

"Azog the Defiler was destroyed," she could hear her father saying. "He was slain in battle long ago."

"So you think his defiling day are done, do you?" The Goblin-King laughed before turning to a mangled goblin hanging from a swing of sorts. "Send word to the Pale Orc. Tell him I have found his prize."

With this the goblin slid away on his seat to deliver his message.

* * *

Soon after, Annelise noticed various torture devices being brought near the king's throne and she knew that their window to save the Company was slowly closing.

The King began singing a vile song as the tools were being set up, and Annelise found herself clutching tighter to Gandalf and pulled her sword from its sheath on her waist.

Suddenly the King's song was cut off as one of the goblins threw her father's sword to the ground as though it had burnt him.

Annelise was surprised to see all of the goblins, including the King, recoil from the blade in fear.

"I know that sword! It is the Goblin-Cleaver!"

These words from the King caused chaos to break out among the goblin ranks. Thorin and the Company were soon surrounded and being beaten while they tried to get free.

"The Biter! The blade that sliced a thousand necks," the King continued. "Slash them! Beat them! Kill them!"

Annelise looked up to see her father being held down by four goblins, while one stood above him with a dagger.

"Cut off his head!"

"Gandalf!" Annelise yelled, no longer worried about being found.

"Stay behind me, hold on tight, and shut your eyes," the wizard ordered suddenly.

Annelise barely had time to do as the old man had said before a great force knocked into her and a bright light flashed before her eyelids.

Everything went still and Annelise opened her eyes to see that all of the goblins had been knocked down with the rest of the Company.

Gandalf and Annelise walked forward on to the platform in front of the still forms.

"Take up arms. Fight," Gandalf ordered the Company quietly.

"Fight!"

With this yelled order, Annelise jumped into battle with Gandalf, as the Company leapt to their feet.

Gandalf quickly took down the goblins that raced toward them, with Annelise at his side.

"He wields the Foehammer! The Beater! Bright as daylight!"

By this time, the Company had found their weapons and joined in the battle.

Annelise turned in time to see her father block an attack from the Goblin-King, before the massive creature fell from the platform beneath their feet.

"Hello cousins," Annelise greeted as Fili and Kili moved to her sides.

Gandalf decapitated a goblin next to Annelise before motioning to her and yelling, "Follow me! Quick!," to the others.

Annelise ended up in front of the wizard with her father and cousins, with the rest of the Company following behind them. She briefly wondered how Bilbo was fairing, but quickly let the thought go as they continued to fight their way through Goblintown.

* * *

If you were to ask Annelise to describe their fight out of Goblintown, she would only be able to give you bits of it. The fight soon dissolved into an ongoing run of cutting down goblins in her path and trying to keep up with her father and cousins. Everywhere she turned more goblins seemed to be waiting to take the place of the last one that she had just cut down.

The Company found themselve surrounded, on a bridge and Annelise suddenly heard her father give the order to cut the ropes to make the path behind them collapse under the feet of the goblins standing on it.

Annelise turned when she heard the sound of something striking metal.

At her back stood Kili, using his sword to block arrows being shot at them from the path ahead. He quickly turned and grabbed a ladder next to him before pushing her further back into the middle of the group.

She watched as he lowered the ladder so that it was facing the goblins before running full speed toward them, clearing their path. The others quickly followed him, cutting down any goblins that were missed.

They then came to a break in the path, so the ladder was then used to make a bridge. Once everyone was across, Dwalin knocked it off, cutting the goblins off from following them.

They soon came to a dead end in the path and Annelise found herself near the back of the Company with Kili.

Annelise decapitated a goblin before Kili suddenly cut a rope to his right and the platform beneath them began to swing and turn in the air.

Annelise saw the other end of the broken path rushing toward her and before she knew it she, Kili, Balin and Bofur were jumping from the swinging path onto the other side.

The platform then swung back and some goblins were able to jump onto it where her father and the rest of the Company still were.

The dwarves and Gandalf were able to jump onto the path finally, and Fili cut one of the remaining ropes, causing the platform to fall into the caverns below.

"Fili!" Annelise cried, as her cousin had to jump from the platform into the waiting arms of the others to avoid falling himself.

They continued running, at one point Gandalf even knocked down a boulder to roll ahead of them, crushing anything in its path.

Eventually they came to a solitary wooden bridge, and Annelise thought that maybe they were almost out of the woods. Those hopes were dashed when suddenly the Goblin-King erupted through the boards in front of them.

Gandalf pushed back the others so that he was facing the giant goblin. Fili quickly pulled Annelise so that she was standing in the middle of the Company, as the others circled around with their backs to her.

"You thought you could escape? What are you going to do now, wizard?" the Goblin-King taunted.

As an answer, Gandalf moved forward and hit the King in the eye with the point of his staff before slashing his sword directly across his large stomach.

The Goblin-King fell to his knees and said, "That'll do it," before Gandalf sliced his neck, causing the Goblin-King to fall forward at the wizard's feet.

With this sudden drop, the boards beneath their feet began to move and crumble, before completely collapsing. They began falling down into the chasms below. As they fell, they hit more wooden structures and walls, causing wood and rock to crumble apart beneath them.

Suddenly the ends of the platforms got caught against the caverns walls, slowing their descent a little before they finally landed in a mess of wood and stone at the bottom of the cavern.

Gandalf quickly pulled himself from the wreckage and assisted Annelise to her feet beside him.

"Well that could have been worse," Bofur said and Annelise just shook her head at him.

Suddenly the Goblin-King's large body landed on top of the wreckage, crushing them even further.

"You've got to be joking!" Dwalin yelled loudly. In any other situation, Annelise might have laughed at the groans and complaints coming from the dwarves in front of her. Instead she looked up and saw hundreds of goblins climbing down the walls after them.

The others were slowly making their way out of the debris, and Annelise heard Kili yell, "Gandalf!," in panic, knowing that her cousin must have seen what she was looking at.

"There's too many. We can't fight them," Dwalin said, while assisting the others out of the wood and rock.

"Only one thing will save us: daylight! Come on!"

With this, Gandalf rushed to help the remaining dwarves stuck in the wreckage before leading the Company out, the goblins close on their tail.

Annelise looked ahead of them to see an opening in the rock and glorious sunshine streaming through.

"We're almost there!," she shouted happily, encouraging the others to keep moving.

"Quick! Quick!" Gandalf said, stopping to make sure everyone got out safely. "Quickly!"

They soon ran out of the opening, onto the foothills of the mountain, surrounded by trees.

"Into the forest, hurry!," her father called from behind her.

* * *

When they had finally made it a safe distance from the mountain, the Company stopped to catch their breath and check over themselves for any wounds.

"Five, six, seven, eight," Annelise could hear Gandalf counting under his breath and she quickly began doing the same.

"Bifur, Bofur. That's 10. Fili, Kili! That's 12. Annelise, 13! And Bombur. That makes 14. Where's Bilbo? Where is our Hobbit?"

At this Annelise began looking around frantically, trying to catch a glimpse of her small friend.

"Where is our Hobbit?!" Gandalf asked loudly. This caused the others to look around hurriedly as well.

"Curse that halfling! Now he's lost?" Gloin said in exasperation.

"I'm sure he just fell behind as we were running out so quickly," Annelise said, mainly trying to reassure herself that he was alright.

"I thought he was with Dori!"

"Don't blame me!"

"Well where did you last see him?," Gandalf asked the dwarf in question.

"I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us," Nori said suddenly, causing Annelise to look down at her boots in defeat. There was no way that small hobbit would have been able to make it through what they just went through on his own.

"Then what happened, exactly? Tell me!" Gandalf shouted.

"I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it. He has thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone."

"Father!," Annelise moved to scold her father for speaking of Bilbo in such a way, but did not have the opportunity to as another voice cut her off.

"No, he isn't."

"Bilbo!," Annelise rushed to the hobbit and fell to her knees to hug him. "I thought something terrible had happened to you!"

"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life," Gandalf said, moving toward the two.

Bilbo moved from Annelise, patting Balin on the back, toward Gandalf.

"Bilbo. We'd given you up!" "How on earth did you get past the goblins?" Kili and Fili spoke.

"How, indeed" Dwalin said to Thorin.

Annelise was a bit confused when Bilbo just let on a nervous chuckle, before putting his hands in his pockets.

"Well what does it matter? He's back," Gandalf said, with a strange look on his face.

"It matters," Thorin said suddenly. "I want to know. Why did you come back?"

"Look, I know you doubt me. And I know you always have. And you're right. I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home."

"That's why I came back. 'Cause...you don't have one... A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."

Annelise felt tears coming to her eyes as she looked at the faces of the dwarves surrounding her. She knew that the small hobbit's words had touched them even more deeply than they did her. She had always known a home with her father and cousins. She was not there when Erebor was taken from them.

She decided then that she was going to work even harder to make sure that the sad looks on the faces of those she loved would one day be smiling as they walked into the home they had lost so long ago.

* * *

Suddenly, their moment of peace was ruined by the sound of wargs growling in the distance, and Annelise knew that they could no longer run from their hunters.

"Out of the frying pan," said her father.

"And into the fire. Run," Gandalf finished. "Run!"

The Company took off running further into the forest, but knew they would not be able to escape for long.

A lone warg eventually caught up to them and jumped from a rock, landing in front off Bilbo. Annelise watch as he somehow manage to stab it before the rest of the pack could overtake them.

They were able to cut down the few that were amongst them before they reached a cliff at the end of the forest.

"Up into the trees. All of you," Gandalf ordered upon seeing that their escape route had come to an end. "Come on, climb! Bilbo, climb!"

Annelise was able to pull herself up onto one of the lower branches and looked back to try to help Bilbo. She saw him still on the ground, trying to pull his dagger from the carcass of the warg that he killed.

"Bilbo, come on!," she yelled frantically.

"They're coming!," her father yelled from the ground.

Bilbo was finally able to pull his sword out, only to look up and see that he was the last on the ground and the warg pack was almost upon them.

"Bilbo!," Annelise yelled, reaching down to help the hobbit up before pulling them both up higher. And not a moment to soon, as the warg pack had reached them.

Annelise pulled herself up so that Bilbo below her would be high enough off the ground, before turning to look at their hunters.

There stood a sight that made her heart ache.

"Azog."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"It cannot be," Annelise heard her father say from a different tree.

She turned to see that her father was staring down at the pale orc with a look of disbelief and anguish on his face.

She turned back when Azog began to speak, unable to bear the sight of such a look on her father's face. She was glad that she was unable to understand the words coming from the vile creatures mouth, though she could clearly see the intention behind them.

Azog suddenly gave an order to attack and the warg pack was soon surrounding the trees that the members of the Company were sitting in.

The warts quickly began jumping at the bases of the trees, pulling off the lower branches trying to climb up. They were causing them to rock so much, that the dwarves were struggling to keep a hold of them.

Annelise worried that soon the trees would fall under the force of the wards jumping on them. One of the wargs came very close to Bilbo's branch and suddenly their tree was falling into the others.

They quickly began jumping into other trees, until the entire Company was sitting in a large tree at the very edge of the cliff.

Annelise looked up to see Gandalf messing with some pine cones and his staff before seeing a spark of fire in his hands.

"Kili!" Gandalf said suddenly dropping the burning pine cone down to her cousin. She quickly realized what the wizard's plan was and began gathering pine cones from around her to light on fire as well.

Soon the Company was throwing the fire balls down at the wargs below them, causing the animals to back away. After a little bit, a wall of fire began to form between them and the wargs.

Azog roared in anger, and the dwarves cheered happily in response. Suddenly the tree beneath them began to be uprooted from the damage that had been done to it.

Annelise quickly reached down to grab a hold of Bilbo beside her to try and keep them both steady as the tree fell on its side off the cliff. She did not know how it was still holding on, but she was glad that it was.

Once she and Bilbo were secure, she looked around to the others. She could see Dori and Ori barely hanging on and watched as Ori suddenly fell, only catching himself by grabbing on to Dori.

"Mr. Gandalf!," she heard Dori yell just before he too lost his grip. She felt her heart stop for a moment as she watched Gandalf dive down and Dori catch the end of the wizard's staff.

She was so distracted by what was happening, she did not notice her father moving from the tree to challenge Azog.

"No!," she heard Balin yell, just in time to turn and see her father in the jaws of Azog's warg.

Bilbo had managed to get onto the truck of the tree and was standing on it, watching the scene before him. Annelise moved to follow the hobbit, but lost her grip and was now only hanging on with one hand.

She saw Dwalin moving to do the same, but the branch beneath him cracked, leaving him hanging as well.

"Addâd!" Annelise shrieked, struggling to pull herself up.

She watched as her father attempted to fight back and was thrown through the air by the warg onto the top of a flat rock. She heard Azog give a command to one of the orcs beside him and watched as the orc moved toward her father.

With this, she struggled even more to try to pull herself up onto the trunk so that she could help her father. She watched as Bilbo drew his small sword and began moving off of the tree.

Seeing the small hobbit's courage and her father struggling to reach his sword, she was finally able to get a good hold on the tree with her second hand and begin pulling herself up.

She gained her balance on the tree in time to see Bilbo tackle the orc standing with his sword raised above her father's head. She watched the small hobbit struggle with the much bigger creature and finally kill it.

She paused to pull Dwalin up onto the trunk before pulling her twin blades from her back. She then began to move Bilbo's side where Azog and what remaining of the orcs were standing in front of the small hobbit, ready to pounce.

Knowing that the other dwarves were on their way to aid bilbo as well, Annelise decided to run to her father's side and help Bilbo defend him. When she got there, she saw that he had fallen unconcious.

"Please be alright, please be alright," she kept muttering under her breath as she fought the wargs and orcs around her.

She saw Bilbo fall to the ground after landing on top of Azog's warg and quickly moved to try to help the hobbit. Suddenly she found an orc towering over her atop a warg.

Annelise quickly thrust her right blade toward the beast, while blocking a blow from its rider with her left.

The force from the blow reminded her of the wound in her left shoulder, as the still healing flesh was opened once more. The warg seemed to notice the weakness in her left side and quickly flung his claws toward her side.

Annelise managed to turn and avoid the main force of the blow, but the animals claws scratched across her already bleeding wound, opening it even further.

Before she had a chance to react to the pain, the warg and orc before her was suddenly lifted from the ground by what looked like a giant eagle.

With the threat now gone, Annelise looked around and saw that there were at least ten of these eagles flying around the battle, driving the enemy away or picking them up and throwing them over the cliff.

Soon she noticed that some of them were picking up members of the Company and taking them away from the flame-ridden cliff.

She watched as one gentle slowed to pick up her father. With the knowledge that he was being taken to safety, Annelise looked around to make sure the others were being picked up as well.

She did not hav time to react when one of the eagles came and grabbed both her and Bilbo before dropping them onto the backs of an eagle below.

As the eagles flew them above the clouds, Annelise looked to the west and saw that the sun was setting.

She then looked above her to the eagle she knew was carrying her father, and saw that he was still unconcious.

"Thorin!," she heard Fili yell loudly in concern, but she knew he would get no response.

Soon the eagles flew them over some mountain peaks into a great valley. Annelise looked ahead and saw that they were heading for a huge rock formation in the middle of the hidden valley.

She watched as the eagle carrying Thorin gently laid the dwarf down on top of the formation and saw Gandalf running over to him as soon as his feet hit the ground.

Annelise and Bilbo were the next to be dropped off, the hobbit staying back while the young woman ran to her father.

She reached his side in time to hear the wizard mutter a spell under his breath while holding his hand over her father's face.

She then turned to look at her father's face and watched as he slowly opened his eyes. Annelise breathed out a deep sigh of relief and relaxed her posture as she bent to press a kiss to her father's head.

"Don't you dare scare me like that again," she scolded with a soft smile.

He smiled back before turning to Gandalf at his side. "The halfling?"

"It's all right. Bilbo is here. He's quite safe," Gandalf reassured him, reaching down to help Annelise up, while Dwalin and Kili helped lift Thorin to his feet.

Annelise looked up to see the hobbit sighing in relief at the sight of their leader on his feet once more. But the smile on his face soon fell, at Thorin's next words.

"You. What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed!"

Annelise looked up at Gandalf in disbelief at her father's behavior.

"Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild? That you had no place amongst us?"

Annelise began to move toward her father, but was held back by a hand on her right shoulder. She looked back to see Gandalf holding onto her, motioning for her to wait.

"I have never been so wrong in all my life," her father continued, and Annelise stepped back with a smile on her face as Thorin grabbed Bilbo into a hug. The rest of the Company cheered, and she looked up at Gandalf with a large smile on her face.

But she saw that the wizard's attention was not on her face, but rather on the deep wound on her left shoulder.

"I will take care of it later," she said, moving her scarf and adjusting her clothes to hide the wound from her father. He was the one whose wounds they needed to be worrying about.

The wizard hesitated before nodding to her in acceptance, seeing that she did not want to cause unnecessary worries for the others. Besides he would be there to keep an eye on her.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," she heard her father say to Bilbo.

"No, I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero or a warrior. Not even a burglar," this was said to the wizard, causing the others to chuckle lightly, before turning to watch the eagles fly off into the distance.

She then watched as her father's eye was drawn by something in the distance, and turned her attention that way as well.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked.

Soon the Company began following behind Thorin as he climbed higher on the rock formation to look north over the vast lands before them.

It was true lay one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen. In the far distance, Annelise could make out a lone peak rising above the horizon, bathed in the golden light of the sunset, and knew that this was the mountain that she had heard so many stories of. This was her father's home. Erebor.

"Erebor," Gandalf echoed her thoughts. "The Lonely Mountain, the last of the great Dwarf Kingdoms of Middle Earth."

"Our home."

At these words, Annelise looked up to her father standing at the top of rocks, staring out at his home, and smiled. After the trials they had been through that day, to see such a look of hope and joy on his face made her heart glad.

"A raven!," Oin said suddenly, breaking her trance. "The birds are returning to the mountain."

"That, my dear Oin, is a thrush," Gandalf said smiling.

"But we'll take it as a sign," Thorin said looking back at his daughter and nephews. "A good omen."

"You're right," Bilbo said from beside Thorin. "I do believe the worst is behind us."

With these words, the Company turned back to look at the mountain that was was their destination.

' _We are so close_ ,' Annelise thought to herself. ' _I do hope that Bilbo proves to be right_.'


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

After making their way down the rock formation, the Company began heading north once more.

They soon discovered, however, that Azog and his pack were still tracking them.

Once they made it to cover, Gandalf asked Bilbo to go ahead and look around to try and determine how far away the pack was.

Annelise used that time to move away from the Company and take a look at her shoulder.

She pulled out her water skin and quickly rinsed the wound before putting a few leaves of athelas in it and bandaging it with some of the extra clothes that Arwen had provided her with. She knew that it probably needed more attention than that, but did not want to alert her father or cousins to her situation as it was not too serious.

She then decided to change into a different tunic under her jerkin as the other was covered in goblin and orc blood. This would also help her to conceal her wound better.

She then quickly moved back to the group and nodded subtly at Gandalf when he looked over at her, reassuring him that she had taken care of her wound.

A few minutes later, Bilbo ran back down from his hiding spot with his report.

"How close is the pack?," Thorin asked.

"Too close. Couple of leagues, no more. But that's not the worst of it."

"Have the wargs picked up our scent?" Dwalin asked.

"Not yet. But they will do. We have another problem."

"Did they see you?" Gandalf asked.

"Hmm?"

"They saw you."

"No, that's not it."

"What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material," Gandalf said with a satisfied look on his face, causing all the others to break out in sounds of agreement.

"Will you listen? Will you just listen?! I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there."

"What form did it take? Like a bear?"

"Ye-yes but bigger. Much bigger."

"You knew about this beast?" Bofur asked the wizard accusingly. "I say we double back."

"Then the wargs will definitely catch our scent," Annelise threw in.

"There is a house," Gandalf said suddenly. "It's not far from here, where we might take refuge."

"Whose house? Are they friend of foe?" Thorin asked.

"Neither. He will help us or...he will kill us."

"What choice do we have?"

At this a loud roar rang through the air.

"None."

Gandalf quickly took the lead, directing them through valleys and across streams toward the house that he spoke of.

They were running through a stretch of trees when a roar rang through the forest. Annelise knew instantly that it was not the roar of the warg pack. it must have been from the bear-like creature Bilbo had mentioned.

'This way! Quickly!" Gandalf yelled back to them, as they had stopped running when they heard the roar.

They soon broke through the tree line and Annelise looked ahead of them to see a house surrounded by vegetation.

"To the house! Run!"

Annelise fell in step beside Gandalf, and was surprised to see Bombur passing the rest of the Company as he ran. the looks of shock on the others faces would have made her laugh if she wasn't breathing so hard already.

She paused with Gandalf to make sure that Bilbo got in before she followed the others in to the opening in the hedges surrounding the house.

She turned back in time to see the bear creature burst through the line of trees, sprinting toward them at unbelievable speed.

She ran to the Company to see them struggling to open the door to the house, watching as her father reached over the others to pulls the latch free. The door quickly flew open beneath the weight of the dwarves and Annelise dove inside.

Gandalf made it inside just in time for the dwarves to push the door mostly shut before the bear began pounding against the door, with his snout preventing them from closing it all the way.

Annelise stood behind the dwarves next to Bilbo with her weapons ready, in case the bear was able to overpower the thirteen dwarves.

"What is that?" Ori asked when they were finally able to lock the door.

"That is our host," Gandalf replied. "His name is Beorn. And he's a skin-changer."

At these words, Annelise's eyes grew large as she looked around at the Company.

"Sometimes he's a huge black bear. Sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not over fond of dwarves."

"He's leaving," Ori said from near the door.

"Come away from there. It's not nature. None of it. It's obvious. He's under some dark spell," Dori said, pulling his younger brother away from the large door.

"Don't be a fool. He's under no enchantment but his own," Gandalf spoke. "All right, now, get some sleep. All of you. You'll be safe here tonight...I hope."

These last two words were said under the wizard's breath and Annelise knew that she was the only one to have heard them.

She quickly moved off away from the Company, using a want for privacy when her father asked where she was going, to take a closer look at her wound.

When she was sure none of the Company could see her, and that Gandalf was distracted, she pulled off her tunic, jerkin and undershirt to get a better look at the full damage.

What little progress that had been made since their departure from Rivendell was now gone. The original wound had been torn open and new deeper wounds from the wargs claws were surrounding it.

She quickly put the leather of her jerkin between her teeth so that she would not cry out and alert the other to her pain as she cleaned out the wounds properly.

She then chewed a bit of athelas until it became a paste and applied it directly to the four cuts. Finally she wrapped her shoulder and chest tightly to prevent the bandages from moving, before slipping her undershirt back on.

She then toed off her boots and placed her pack under her head before drifting off to sleep.

Annelise woke to the gentle shaking and quiet voice of Gandalf the next morning.

"Annelise, it is time to greet our host," he said, looking behind him at the others moving about.

"Were you able to change your bandages last night?," he added with worry, looking back to her.

"Yes, I was able to clean them out better and apply more herbs."

"Them?," Gandalf began before he was interrupted by Thorin walking over.

"Good morning, father. How are you feeling?" Annelise asked, remembering her father's own injuries.

"Much better. Did you sleep well?," he asked, offering her a hand to stand.

"Yes, though I admit I am still a bit tired," she said, knowing that her own wounds and blood loss were contributing to her fatigue.

By this time, Annelise and Thorin had joined the others and heard them debating on how they should go about getting past their host, who she could hear outside chopping wood.

"Well, I say we should leg it. Slip out the back way," Nori said to the others.

"I'm not running from anyone, beast or no," Dwalin said roughly to Nori.

"There is no point in arguing. We cannot pass through the Wilderland without Beorn's help.We'll be hunted down before we ever get to the forest," Gandalf said to the group, seeing Bilbo joining them.

"Bilbo, there you are. Now this will require some delicate handling. We must tread very carefully. The last person to have startled him was torn to shreds."

"Well I guess that's it then," Annelise said, moving to the wizard's side and offering her arm to him. "Shall we?"

"Of course," Gandalf said, taking her arm. "Now we will go first and - Bilbo? You come with us."

"I-is this a good idea?," the hobbit asked, moving to Annelise's side. The young woman quickly place her other hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile to try and ease his nerves.

"Yes. Now the rest of you, you just wait here and don't come out until I give the signal."

"Right. Wait for the signal," Bofur said from his spot by the window.

"And no sudden moves or loud noises and don't overcrowd him. And only come out in pairs. Right." With this Gandalf took up Annelise arm once again and began to move toward the door, before pausing.

"No, actually, Bombur. You count as two so you should come out alone."

Annelise saw the dwarf in question nod understandingly and smiled back at her father over his shoulder before turning with Gandalf and Bilbo at her sides.

"Remember: wait for the signal."

They made their way out the door toward where Beorn stood, chopping wood.

She looked over to Gandalf fidgeting nervously and swallowed the lump in her thought that had formed at the sight of the look on the wizard's face. Bilbo seemed to notice the state of the old man as well, and decided to comment on it.

"You're nervous."

"Nervous? What nonsense," the wizard replied, looking down at the Hobbit.

Annelise clutched onto Bilbo's shoulder even tighter, trying to steady her own nerves at approaching the large man before them. It was a very rare occurrence for her to have to look up to someone when she spoke to them. It made her feel very uncomfortable to see that the man in front of them was even taller than Gandalf.

"Good morning," Gandalf said, trying to get Beorn's attention. When this did not work he tried again, louder.

"Good morning!"

Beorn chopped one last piece of wood before holding onto his axe.

"Who are you?," he asked with an extremely low voice.

"I'm Gandalf. Gandalf the Grey," the wizard replied with a bow.

At this Beorn lifted his axe from the chopping block, setting it before him, and turned to face them quickly.

The sudden movement caused both Annelise and Bilbo to flinch slightly, the young woman noticing that the hobbit was hidden behind her form.

"Never heard of him."

"I'm a wizard. Perhaps you've heard of my colleague, Radagast the Brown. He resides in the southern borders of Mirkwood."

"And who is this girl?," Beorn asked suddenly, turning his heavy gaze upon Annelise at the wizard's side.

"This is Annelise, daughter of Thorondil, niece of King Thengel of Rohan. She is a dear friend of mine," Gandalf said, stepping behind her to place his hand on her shoulder, causing Bilbo to move behind the wizard instead.

At this introduction Annelise glanced back at the wizard, surprised at the titles that he used. The wizard subtly shook his head at her, stopping her from protesting.

"You do not look like one of the Rohirrim," Beorn replied, taking in her dark hair and pale skin.

"My father was one of the Dunedain, sir," she responded quickly. Beorn nodded slightly before turning his attention back to Gandalf, and Annelise breathed a sigh of relief.

"What do you want?"

"Well, simply to thank you for your hospitality. You may have noticed that we took refuge in your lodgings here last night."

With this Gandalf turned to the side to gesture back to the house, exposing Bilbo to Beorn's line of sight.

"Who is this little fellow?," Beorn asked, tightening the grip he had on his axe.

"Oh, well, this would be Mr. Baggins...from the Shire."

Beorn lifted his axe off the ground slightly before saying, "He's not a dwarf, is he?"

"Why, no. No. He's a Hobbit. A good family and unimpeachable reputation," Gandalf said, patting Bilbo on the shoulder.

"A halfling, a wizard, and a princess. How come you're here?"

"Oh, well, the fact is that we've had a bad time of it...from goblins in the mountains."

"What did you go near goblins for? Stupid thing to do!"

"You are absolutely right," Gandalf said, waving his arms around.

Annelise soon heard sounds coming from behind her, and realized that the others must have thought he was signaling them. 'Wait, what was the signal?,' Annelise thought to herself.

While Gandalf was still speaking, she watched as Beorn picked up his axe defensively and turned to see Dwalin and Balin coming into the open.

She quickly sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no way to recover their situation now.

"Dwalin and Balin," Dwalin said, gesturing to him and his brother.

"And I must confess," Gandalf began, "that several of our group are, in fact, dwarves."

"Do you call two 'several'?"

"Well, now you put it that way...no. We-well, yes, there could be more than two."

"Wait, that's us," Annelise heard Gloin say behind her, and she looked to see he and Oin come out and bow.

"And here are some more of our happy troop."

"And do you call seven a 'troop'?," Beorn said to the wizard angrily. "What are you a traveling circus?"

"Dori and Ori at your service," Dori said from the door, and Annelise knew from the growl coming from their host that they were in deep trouble now.

"I don't want your service."

"Absolutely understandable," Gandalf said, lifting his hand to try to smooth over the situation.

Annelise looked back to see her cousins moving to join the others at this motion.

"Oh, Fili and Kili. I'd quite forgotten. Yes," Gandalf said. Suddenly the rest of the Company left the house, completely destroying any chance they might have had at saving the situation.

"Oh, yes, and Nori, Bofur...Bifur...and Bombur," the wizard continued, staring at Beorn.

"Is that it? Are there any more?"

Annelise looked up to see a fire burning in Beorn's eyes and was glad when her father moved to join the others.

"Sir, this is my adoptive father. Thorin Oakenshield," Annelise said, introducing her father. She watched as the recognition showed in Beorn's eyes and prayed that maybe all hope was not lost.

The Company soon found themselves sitting around Beorn's table for breakfast while he and Gandalf spoke.

"So you are the one they call Oakenshield," Beorn said while pouring a glass of milk for Fili. "Tell me...why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

"You know of him?," Annelise asked looking up in surprise from next to her father.

"How?," Thorin asked.

"My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the rest came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family. But some he enslaved."

At these words Annelise noticed a shackle on his left wrist, no doubt from his own time in slavery. She felt her blood boil even more with hatred for the creature that had brought so ugh pain to her family and many others.

"Not for work, you understand," Beorn continued, "but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

"That vile beast," Annelise growled under her breath. Thorin quickly reached over and grabbed ahold of her hand to calm her.

"There are others like you?," Bilbo asked suddenly.

"Once there were many."

"And now?"

"Now there is only one."

Beorn then set down his pitcher of milk and turned to Thorin.

"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of Autumn."

"Before Durin's Day falls. Yes," Gandalf inserted.

"You are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."

Annelise looked up from her hands upon hearing this. 'That is where King Thranduil and Prince Legolas are,' she thought to herself, searching back into her memories of the time that she spent there as a child.

"A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. I would not venture there except in great need."

"We will take the Elven Road," Gandalf said, and Annelise felt her father stiffen beside her before getting up to walk away from the table with his head bowed. She knew of the animosity that existed between her father and the ruler of those lands. "Their path is still safe."

"'Safe'? The wood elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise, and more dangerous. But it matters not."

"What do you mean?," Thorin asked, turning back to the man.

"These lands are crawling with orcs. Their numbers are growing. And you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive."

Annelise looked around at her companions in despair, knowing that the words the skin-changer spoke were true.

Beorn then stood from his seat and continued speaking.

"I don't like dwarves. They're greedy and blind. Blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own," he said, picking up a small mouse that Bofur had just brushed off his arm and moving to stand before Thorin.

"But orcs I hate more. What do you need?"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Soon after the Company was preparing to leave Beorn's home. Each dwarf had been given a pony to assist them in their journey toward Mirkwood, while Gandalf and Annelise had been given horses.

Along with these animals, the Company was able to fill their packs with what food they would be able to carry once they were back on foot.

Annelise was standing to the side with Gandalf and Beorn watching the others preparing to leave.

"You will leave my ponies before you enter the forest," Beorn said to Gandalf as they walked through the trees surrounding the others.

"You have my word," Gandalf responded as a crow sounded above them. The wizard and Beorn looked above and following its flight as it left the trees.

"We're being watched."

"Yes. The orcs will not give up," Beorn responded. "They will hunt the dwarves until they see them destroyed."

"Why now? What has made the Defiler crawl from his hole?"

"There is an alliance between the orcs of Moria and the sorcerer in Dol Guldur," Beorn spoke, causing Annelise to look up at Gandalf in surprise.

'Could this sorcerer be what Radagast needed to speak to Gandalf about?,' she wondered to herself.

"Are you sure of this?"

"Packs have been seen gathering there. Each day, more and more come."

"What do you know of this sorcerer?," Gandalf asked, looking down to Annelise quickly, as if reluctant to speak of the topic in front of her. "The one they call the Necromancer."

"I know he is not what he seems. Fell things are drawn to his power. Azog pays homage to him."

Annelise opened her mouth to ask Gandalf if this would affect their traveling through Mirkwood, but she was cut off by her father.

"Gandalf, Annelise. Time is wasting."

The wizard and young woman began moving toward their horses when Beorn began to speak again.

"There is more. Not long past, word spread...the dead had been seen walking near the High Fells of Rhudaur."

"The dead?," Gandalf spoke in a grave voice, pausing in his steps.

"Is it true?," Beorn continued. "Are there tombs in those mountains?"

"Gandalf?," Annelise questioned quietly when the wizard hesitated in answering.

In response, Gandalf looked into her eyes sadly and placed a hand gently on her shoulder before turning to look at Beorn.

"Yes. Yes, there are tombs up there."

"I remember a time...when a great evil ruled these lands. One powerful enough to raise the dead."

Annelise stiffened under Gandalf's hand as she realized the meaning behind the man's words.

"If that enemy has returned to Middle Earth...I would have you tell me."

"Saruman the White says it is not possible. The enemy was destroyed and will never return."

"And what does Gandalf the Grey say?"

With this more crows began cawing around them and Annelise could see the others in the Company getting restless.

"Go now," Beorn said to the two before him, "while you have the light."

Annelise then could hear a warg howling in the distance.

"Your hunters are not far behind."

With these words, Gandalf used his hand still on Annelise's shoulder to lead her to her horse next to his.

She mounted her horse before turning to the wizard next to her.

"Gandalf, what-"

"Not now, Annelise," he interrupted quietly before motioning with his head to her father moving his pony toward them.

She nodded her head before nudging her horse after the others.

* * *

After some time riding, Annelise was able to pull away from her father to ride ahead next to Gandalf at the front of the Company.

"May we speak now?," she asked the wizard quietly.

Gandalf sighed before looking over at her.

"I had hoped that no one in this Company would be burdened with such knowledge."

"But wasn't Sauron destroyed when Isildur cut the Ring from his hand?"

"As long as the Ring exists, the Dark Lord will never truly be defeated," Gandalf said sadly. With these words, Annelise looked into the wizard's eyes and for the first time, instead of seeing a simple old man, she saw a haunted and heavy look in his eyes that could only come from everything he had seen in his long life.

It was a look that she had only seen in her Uncle Elrond's eyes, when he spoke to her of the Last Alliance and Sauron's defeat.

"And this Necromancer? Is he-?" Annelise began to ask, but found herself unable to speak her thoughts for fear that she was right.

Instead of answering, the wizard looked at her with sad, knowing eyes understanding what it was that she was asking. At this look, she felt a chill run down her spine and moved her eyes up to the sky, offering up a quick prayer to the Valar.

* * *

The Company soon reached the borders of Mirkwood and Annelise's thoughts were turned toward the Elvenking and his son that lived within the woods before her.

Annalise quickly dismounted her horse, before pulling her pack from its back and moving toward the edge of the forest before her.

She then followed behind Gandalf as he moved into the entrance to the path through the forest.

"The Elven Gate. Here lies our path through Mirkwood," he called back to the rest of the Company still on their ponies.

"No sign of the orcs," Dwalin said. "We have luck on our side."

Annelise then saw Gandalf look into the distance, where she could just make out the form of a bear atop one of the hills. She knew it to be Belen, not luck that had prevented the orcs from finding them.

"Set the ponies loose!," he suddenly yelled to the others. "Let them return to their master."

'This forest feels...sick. As if a disease lies upon it," Bilbo said, moving to Annelise's side at the entrance. "Is there no way around?"

"Not unless we go 200 miles north. Or twice that distance...south," Gandalf trailed off moving deeper into the forest toward a statue covered in vines.

"Gandalf, what is that?," Annelise asked following behind the wizard as she felt the air around her grow heavy and stifling.

"You feel it, as well?," he asked turning toward her quickly in surprise, before suddenly pulling the vines from the Elven statue.

Suddenly a fiery eye flashed before Annelise's eyes, causing her breath to be stolen from her and forcing her to take a step back. She then looked toward the statue and saw that underneath the ones was revealed a crude painting of the same eye that she had just seen.

Once she recovered from her shock, Annelise looked at Gandalf and heard him mutter something under his breath before turning suddenly.

"Gandalf, wait!," she called after the wizard. "What was that? That eye I saw? It looked just like the one drawn on the statue."

With these words, the grey wizard stopped suddenly and looked at her strangely.

"What did you see?," he said urgently under his breath to prevent the others from hearing.

"It's was an eye…surrounded by bright flames," she answered. Upon seeing recognition flash in the wizard's eyes at her words, she continued. "What was it?"

Instead of answering her question, Gandalf looked at her with worry.

"You are much more in tune with your surroundings than I expected. Even with your Dunedain blood, you should not be this sensitive to the evil in this world. I can only hope that it is your innocence that is the cause of this."

"Then the eye is what I believe it to be?," she said in response to his strange words.

"Yes," he said quietly before moving quickly toward the others.

"Not my horse! I need it!,'' he yelled upon seeing Dwalin releasing beorn's ponies.

Bilbo quickly moved to the wizard's side as he prepared to leave.

"You're not leaving us?," he asked in desperation.

"I would not do this unless I had to," Gandalf said looking down at the hobbit, before glancing at Annelise, who had placed a hand on Bilbo's shoulder.

"You've changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same hobbit as the one who left the Shire."

"I was going to tell you. I…found something in the Goblin tunnels."

At this Annelise and Gandalf looked down at the hobbit in surprise.

"Found what? What did you find?," Gandalf asked Bilbo curiously.

Bilbo seemed to pause for a moment, and Annelise was once more overwhelmed with a sensation of pure evil closing in around her. Gandalf seemed to notice her discomfort and frowned at her sadly.

At last, Bilbo finally responded. "My courage," he said in a strained voice.

"Good. Well, that's good," Gandalf said straightening up. "You'll need it."

"Look after each other," he said looking between the two in front of him, before turning to address the Company.

"I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe," he said looking toward Thorin. "Do not enter that mountain without me."

"This is not the Greenwood of old. There is a stream in the woods that carries a dark enchantment. Do not touch the water. Cross only by the stone bridge. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It'll seek to enter your mind and lead you astray."

"'Lead us astray'. What does that mean?," Bilbo asked Annelise quietly.

"You must stay on the path," Gandalf continued after mounting his horse. "Do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again."

"No matter what may come, stay on the path!," he shouted, finally riding away from the Company.

Annelise watched as her father began moving toward the edge of the forest where the path started.

"Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day. it is our one chance to find the hidden door."

At this, Annelise squeezed Bilbo's shoulder one last time before moving to follow the others.

* * *

For a time the journey through the dark forest was uneventful. The path was easy to distinguish before them and any enchantment that Gandalf had spoken of seemed to have no effect on the Company.

"The path turns this way," she heard her father say from the head of the group.

The further they ventured into the forest, the darker the air around them became. After what felt like hours, the forest seemed to be closing in around them and the Company had to rely on Dwalin beating the bottom of his ax on the ground to keep on the path.

by this point, Annelise had developed a strong ache in her head and was finding it difficult to focus on anything around her other than her cousin's head in front of her.

Suddenly she heard Kili call out in front of her. "We've found the bridge."

Annelise could only assume that he was speaking of the stone bridge that Gandalf had mentioned earlier. But when she looked to see the bridge, she saw that part of the bridge had collapsed, leaving it impassable.

"We could try and swim it," she heard Bofur say in front of her.

"Didn't you hear what Gandalf said?," her father responded. "A dark magic lies upon this forest. The waters of this stream are enchanted."

"Doesn't look very enchanting to me," Bofur responded, squinting his eyes down at the water.

"We must find another way across," Thorin said, moving to search around the stream.

"These vines look strong enough," she heard Kili say, although the word barely broke through her mind. The longer she stared at the water, the foggier her head became.

"Kili!," Thorin yelled, bringing Annelise out of her trance. "We send the lightest first."

Everyone in the Company looked toward Bilbo.

With this, the hobbit moved toward where Kili was standing and grabbed on to the first vine.

After he had gotten a little further, Thorin turned to Annelise.

"You should go next. You are lighter on your feet than the rest of us."

With a nod, Annelise moved to follow after Bilbo.

"Do not follow us until we tell you to, alright?," she said to her father before moving to the next vine.

"It's alright. Can't see any problem," Bilbo was saying from in front of her.

Suddenly, Bilbo missed a handhold and fell upside down with his legs wrapped around a vine.

"Bilbo!," Annelise shouted, trying to reach the hobbit before he fell into the water.

"There's one," he said, struggling to regain his hold. "Everything's…fine."

Somehow he ended up with his feet and hands on two different vines, suspended above the water. Annelise noticed that he seemed to be staring at his reflection for a moment and knew that there was definitely something wrong with the water below her.

As she tried to continue after the hobbit, she noticed that her mind was beginning to go blank and that she could not seem to focus on what she was doing.

She began to simply follow in the hobbit's footsteps and managed to make it across the river just behind him. When her feet finally hit solid ground, she fell to her knees with her head bowed to try and clear it a bit.

"Something's not right," she heard Bilbo saying from beside her. "It's not right at all."

"Stay where you are!," she heard him yell to the others.

"Oh."

When she heard Bilbo's tone of voice, she turned to see what had made him so disappointed.

She looked up to see the remaining members of the Company tangled up in the vines, trying to cross at the same time.

"Oh no," she muttered under her breath, knowing that this situation could not end well.

She turned to the side to see Bilbo slapping himself gently in the face, and realized that she was not the only one feeling the effects of the forest.

She finally stood up when her father landed on the ground beside her and held a hand out by her head.

She took it and nodded in thanks after he helped pull her to her feet.

He and Bilbo then looked off in to the forest ahead of them, and Annelise saw a beautiful white stag walk out from the trees in front of them, into a beam of sunlight.

She could tell that Bilbo appreciated the sight as much as she did.

"What are you doing?," she heard him say to her father, and she looked to see that he had placed an arrow on his bowstring.

"Father, no," she tried to yell, but her voice only came out in a whisper.

Thorin quickly pulled up his bow and fired the arrow toward the stag. Annelise could not help but breath a sigh of relief when the arrow missed and the stag ran off out of sight.

"You shouldn't have done that," Bilbo said quietly. "It's bad luck."

"I don't believe in luck," Thorin responded angrily. "We make our own luck."

With these unfortunate words, Annelise turned her head quickly at the sound of a large splash. She saw that Bombur had somehow fallen asleep and tumbled off the vines into the river below.

"Hurry!," her father yelled. "Get him out of there!"

This event ended with the members of the Company rotating carrying Bombur on a makeshift stretcher through the forest.

"We need to take a rest," Annelise heard Nori say ahead of her. She had fallen to the back of the group and was simply following whoever was in front on her. This, of course, led her to bumping into said person any time the Company would come to a halt.

At Nori's words, the entire group stopped without any word from Thorin, and Annelise sat down in the middle of the path where she stood.

She looked up at the forest around her, and everything began to move.

"What is that? Voices?," her brain registered Bilbo saying from ahead. "Voices. Can you hear them?," he said to the people around him.

"I hear nothing," her father responded. "No wind. No birdsong. What hour is it?"

"I don't know," Dwalin answered. "I do not even know what day it is."

"This is taking to long," Thorin said. "Is there no end to this accursed forest?!"

"None that I can see," Gloin responded. "Only trees and more trees."

"There," she heard her father say. He then began stumbling toward her. "This way," he gestured to everyone.

"But Gandalf said-," she heard someone protest before Thorin cut them off.

"Do as I say. Follow me."

Annelise struggled to her feet, stumbling a few times as she tried to gain her balance with the world spinning around her.

She felt a hand on her elbow, helping to keep her steady. She looked over to see that Fili was standing next to her, lending her his support as he had done so many times when she was growing up. She smiled down at him brightly in thanks, before moving to follow after the rest of the group.

"Wait!," she heard Bilbo yell suddenly from behind her. For some reason, she could not force her body to stop and wait for him, or to even see what he was yelling for.

"Wait! Stop! We can't leave th-leave the path! We must stay on the path!"

* * *

What transpired over the next who knows how long is anybody's guess. All Annelise could remember was the back of Fili's head as he held onto her hand and led her along. She could vaguely remember possibly having to climb a cliff.

Then again, she also remembered seeing Gandalf and her parents, with an occasional glimpse of a young Estel running through the forest, so her memory really could not be trusted.

"I don't remember this place," she heard Balin say. "None of it's familiar."

"It's got to be here. It can't have just disappeared!"

"Unless someone's moved it."

"It's not over here neither!"

At these words, Annelise realized why it seemed that they had been walking around aimlessly.

They had lost the path.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

 ** _Bold text - Elvish_**

 _Italicized - thoughts_

* * *

"Have you always had three eyes, Ori?," Annelise asked the dwarf walking behind her.

"I-I think so. It would account for my unparalleled archery skills, wouldn't it?," he answered slowly in a slurred voice.

"But Ori, you're not good at archery," Annelise replied simply.

"Oh…I suppose you're right."

With this Annelise turned back to Fili walking in front of her, and both promptly forgot the conversation.

These kind of conversations had been popping up throughout the Company as the enchantment within the forest began to mess with their brains.

"Look a tobacco pouch," Dori said from up ahead. "There's dwarves in these woods."

"Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, no less. This is exactly the same as mine," Bofur said, grabbing the pouch from Ori, who had picked up the object.

"Because it is yours," Bilbo said suddenly, breaking through the fog in Annelise's mind and clearing her thoughts. "Do you understand? We're going round in circles. We are lost."

For some reason, these last words from the hobbit completely cleared any remains of the enchantment that was clouding Annelise's brain.

"We'e not lost. We keep heading east."

"But which way is east? We've lost the sun," Oin responded in despair.

This resulted in an argument among the dwarves, Bilbo and Annelise began to contemplate their dilemma.

"The sun. We have to find…the sun," Bilbo muttered to himself, before beginning to tap himself on the forehead to clear his thoughts.

"Climb up this tree," Annelise said, turning to the hobbit and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Figure out where we are and which way we should be going."

"Right, yes of course. Good idea," Bilbo said nodding his head quickly before moving to climb the tree next to Annelise.

As Bilbo began climbing, the rest of the Company continued their argument. Annelise moved to stand between Fili and Kili and Dori and Ori, when she heard her father suddenly shout out.

"Enough! Quiet! All of you!," he yelled causing the group to go silent.

"We're being watched."

* * *

After Thorin's words there was a flurry of activity as Annelise and the dwarves moved to draw their weapons and look for their enemy.

Now that her father had pointed it out, Annelise could feel the eyes of the unseen presence on her and it made her skin crawl. She had also become aware of the webs that had been covering every inch of the forest that they had walked on.

The forest suddenly became eerily still and quiet. Annelise found herself standing next to Kili, holding her breath.

She then heard a scream from above, and found herself turning her eyes up to the canopy with the rest of the Company.

In this moment of distraction, six gigantic spiders sprang from the trees around them and began attempting to capture them.

Ori, Nori, Dori, and Bombur were quickly wrapped up and pulled away by four of the spiders, while the rest of the Company fought to reach them, while defending themselves from the other two monstrous giants.

As Annelise continued to fight next to her cousin, she saw five more spiders emerge from the trees at their backs.

"Kili!," she yelled trying to alert him to the danger, while defending herself.

It was at this moment, Annelise realized _that_ she had been feeling a sharp pain in her shoulder and remembered her injury. ' _Oh_ no,' she thought to herself. ' _When was the last time I cleaned and changed the bandages_?'

In the back of her mind, she realized it was that night at Beorn's house. _'I'll be lucky if it isn't infected_ ,' she thought ruefully. But judging by the growing pain, she knew that it was unlikely that it wasn't.

After killing a spider, Annelise looked around to see that it was just she, her father, Fili, Kili, and Dwalin that were left fighting against six spiders. As the others were nowhere to be seen, Annelise could only assume that they had been taken off by the spiders.

As she was thinking this, four of the other spiders returned and Annelise knew that their chances of making it out and saving the others was slim.

To make matters worse, she could feel liquid flowing down her shoulder and knew that her wounds had reopened. She was quickly beginning to feel the effects of the blood loss and infection and her movements were beginning to slow.

Just as she was beginning to pass out, she felt something grab her and start wrapping her in a strangely warm, yet soft material. ' _I guess a small nap, couldn't hurt,_ ' she thought with a half-conscious mind, forgetting her current situation.

With this, she lost consciousness and snuggled into the warm cocoon.

* * *

The first thing Annelise noticed when she finally regained consciousness was a sinking feeling within her stomach. When she stretched her awareness out from that feeling, she realized that she was falling through the air and began panicking.

Before she had much time to panic, though, the feeling stopped and she felt herself being lowered gently before hitting the ground.

"Annelise!," she heard her father's voice, before the wrapping was pulled from her face.

"Father? What happened?," she asked.

Her father looked at her with confusion and worry in his eyes before answering her.

"Spiders. You seemed to faint suddenly while in the middle of fighting them."

"Oh," was the only reply he received, as Annelise looked down at herself and realized the soft material she was wrapped in was actually spider webs.

With this revelation, she quickly began pulling the stuff away from her body trying to rid herself of the sensation of bugs crawling all over her skin.

"I hope I never have to see another spider ever again," she said with a shiver as her father helped her from the ground.

"You spoke too soon," her father replied picking up his sword once more.

At this, Annelise looked around to see at least a dozen spiders running through the trees towards them.

"Come on!," her father yelled to the others running towards where she had just seen Bilbo fall.

Because of the effects of her wound, Annelise found herself unable to keep up with the others and she began falling behind.

"Hurry Annelise!," Kili yelled stopping to wait for her.

The two were soon separated from the group and surrounded by three spiders.

Annelise and Kili began fighting together trying to kill the spiders.

She saw Fili and the others fighting nearby so she was not too worried, until she began losing the feeling in her left arm.

Because of this, she was finding it difficult to defend herself and Kili moved away from the others to help her.

"I'm sorry, Kili," she said, as she continued to attempt to fight.

"Are you hurt?," he asked in panic, blocking a blow from one of the spiders' legs that was heading for Annelise.

Instead of answering, Annelise found her world spinning and saw that ground coming up to meet her face.

* * *

"Annelise!," Kili yelled, as he watched his cousin fall flat on her face. In this position, he could clearly see blood seeping through her clothes along her back and left shoulder.

Kili did not have time to worry about his cousin though, as he found himself surrounded by spiders on all sides.

One of the spiders managed to grab hold of his legs as he tried to defend himself and Annelise.

"Help!," he cried out, praying that the others would hear and be able to help them.

He breathed a small sigh of relief when he heard his brother's voice calling out to him, but his relief was short-lived as he found himself being dragged away from Annelise's defenseless form.

Suddenly Kili felt something fly past his head toward the spider that had a hold on his leg. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking his brother had arrived at seeing that it was an arrow that had pierced the spider and allowed him to get free of the creature. He was shocked to turn around and see a she-elf with long auburn hair fighting off the still advancing spiders.

"Throw me a dagger! Quick!," he yelled to her in desperation, seeing that he was unarmed with a spider nearing him quickly.

"If you think I am giving your a weapon, dwarf, you're mistaken!," she yelled back, finishing off the spider she was fighting before throwing her dagger through the air with deadly accuracy to defeat the other advancing on Kili.

Kili stares at her in awe for a moment before his eyes turned back to his cousin lying prone on the ground.

"Please, my cousin, she is injured," he said as the she-elf began to approach him with a menacing air, knowing she was likely to try and take him captive. He could only assume that she was a part of a larger group of elves that would have found the rest of the Company already.

These words from the dwarf halted the woman's movements momentarily before she changed course to go to the girl some feet away from her. The elleth examined the young woman for a moment before standing and lifting her into her arms gently.

"She is badly injured. You will walk before me to the others. Do not try to escape," she said to Kili sternly, leaving no room for argument.

* * *

"Search them," the elf standing before Thorin ordered to the others surrounding them.

The elves around began following their leader's orders and striping the Company of their weapons.

"Who is this?," the blonde elf said to Gloin, pulling a chain from his neck. "Your brother?"

"That is my wife," the dwarf replied angrily.

"And what is this horrid creature? A goblin-mutant?"

"That's my wee lad, Gimli!"

With these words, the elf raised his eyebrows before handing the object back and moving to stand before the Company and observe the scene before him.

Thorin allowed himself a brief moment of relief when he saw Kili walking toward them with a she-elf behind.

Although, any relief he might have felt was sucked away when he saw what was in the arms of the elf.

"Annelise!," he yelled in panic, fearing the worst and trying to move toward his precious daughter.

He was held back by the leader of the elves, as the woman began walking toward him.

"Who is this girl?," the elf asked, turning toward Thorin.

"She is my daughter, now let me pass," he ordered the blonde elf, trying to pull from his grasp.

"She is alive," the elleth spoke, both to Thorin and to her leader as she laid the girl down on the forest floor. "She has deep wounds on her back that seem to have come from claws. They are infected. If they are not treated, she will die."

With these words, Annelise began to stir from her place at her father's feet. Thorin knelt down to stop her from standing.

"Do not stand. You are very weak."

"It hurts," she responded softly struggling to get her words out through the pain.

"Why did you not tell me that you were injured?," he asked angrily, though he was truly angry with himself for not noticing sooner.

"Gandalf and I were taking care of it," she responded simply, ignoring Thorin's hand on her shoulder and climbing to her feet unsteadily.

Annelise looked around and found her eyes landing on the blonde elf standing next to a red-haired elleth. ' _Legolas?_ ,' she thought to herself, wondering if this could be the son of the Elvenking that she had met so long ago.

"Your name is Annelise?," he asked her, with a sad look in his eyes.

She only had the strength to nod and take a step toward him, before feeling her world tilt again.

As she stumbled into the arms of the elf before her, ten words slipped from her lips.

"'Ego, your woods seem to have a serious spider problem…"

* * *

Legolas could not help but feel sad when he first learned that the girl's name was Annelise, reminding him of the small child that had left Middle Earth far too soon all those years ago.

As the young woman stumbled toward him, he instinctively reached out his arms to catch her as she fainted. But the words that fell from her mouth, he could never have anticipated.

Legolas gasped under his breath upon realising that the strange girl had called him by a name only one other person had ever used for him.

As he looked down at the unconscious woman in his arms, he noticed a golden chain around her neck that disappeared under her tunic.

Legolas could not help the surge of hope that rushed through his body, as he reached to grab the chain that rested at the joining of her neck and shoulder.

He soon had the breath stolen from his chest as he saw the pendant hanging from the chain.

"It can't be," he whispered just loud enough for the dwarf standing before him to hear.

"How did she come by this necklace?," Legolas asked suddenly, looking at the dwarf claiming to be her father.

"It was a gift to her from Lord Elrond of Rivendell," he responded grudgingly, beginning to realize just who it was standing in front of him. He should have known this might happen, especially after finding out how close the Elvenking and his son had been to his daughter before she came to him.

"She is who you believe her to be, Prince," he continued quietly, loathe to admit the truth. Seeing the elf's eyes widen in shock, Thorin knew he had guessed his identity correctly.

Legolas quickly laid the young woman in his arms down on the ground at his feet, smoothing the hair from her face that had fallen free from her braid, before standing up again.

"You are either very brave or very foolish to bring the Jewel of Men back into my forest injured," Legolas said angrily. Despite his outward reaction, his heart was singing with joy at the knowledge that the child he had grieved for over the past twenty years had finally returned.

He was then handed the sword that had been taken from Thorin while he was being searched.

His shock at the day's events was then multiplied, as he recognized the craftsmanship of the sword the dwarf leader had been carrying.

 _ **"** **This sword was made in Gondolin. Forged by the Noldor** ," _Legolas said, turning the blade over in his hands before turning to Thorin once more. "Where did you get this?"

Legolas looked at the dwarf before him skeptically before brandishing the sword in front of him threateningly.

"Not just a thief, but a liar as well," he said to Thorin in a dark voice.

He sheathed the sword and bent to gently lift Annelise into his arms once more, before yelling an order out to those in his command.

" _ **Take them!** "_


End file.
